Department for Transport

Driving Tests

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time is for a practical driving test in (a) London, (b) England and (c) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency does not have a defining boundary for (a) ‘London’ and therefore cannot provide an average waiting time figure. The official waiting time is based on more than 10% of test slots being available in an individual test centre. The official measure is not a weighted average and does not take account of volumes of tests we deliver at any given test centre. As at 09.01.17, the average waiting time for a practical driving test in (b) England and (c) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency is:England6.7 weeksWood Green driving test centre15 weeks

Driving Tests

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the efficiency of the process for securing a practical driving test.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is taking a number of actions to improve the process of securing practical driving tests by increasing the number of available slots. It:continually monitors demand and staffing levels to make sure it deploys the right number of examiners to each location and consequently, more examiners have been recruited.launched a successful initiative to offer examiner testing over the October half-term, which led to an extra 1,000 test slots being available in this period.is running a ‘winter hours’ initiative between 1 December 2016 and 31 March 2017 to offer weekend testing and extra hours for part-time examiners to increase test slots.is reducing the number of motorcycle slots by 10% to free up slots for car testing to take advantage of the fact that bike testing naturally declines by 20% during the winter.has stopped taxi driver assessments as of 31 December 2016, which has freed up considerable examiner resource. DVSA publishes all details of short notice cancellations and extra appointments being offered at local test centres on its online booking service on GOV.UK and on its twitter account: @DVSA_HelpMe

Railways: Finance

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, (a) how much of and (b) on what the £20 million fund managed by Chris Gibb to achieve improvements to rail services has been spent to date.

Paul Maynard: This money comes from Network Rail’s existing budget and work has been carried out on replacing worn tracks, hiring extra staff, improving train dispatch times, providing more Network Rail rapid response teams, accelerating track maintenance programmes, additional signal supervisors, improving bridge strike prevention, investment to speed up and identify the causes of delay and improve responses to delays, and improvements in depot flows.

Bus Services: Schools

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in usage of public bus school services.

Andrew Jones: The number of passenger journeys made on local bus services in London and England from 1970 to 2015/16 can be found in table BUS0103 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus01-local-bus-passenger-journeys#table-bus0103. However, estimates of the number of passenger journeys on local bus services that operate a school service are not produced. The Department’s National Travel Survey collects information on travel to school. The number of trips to and from school by local bus per child per year in England can be found in table NTS0613 at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts06-age-gender-and-modal-breakdown#table-nts0613

Roads: North of England

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Northern Trans-Pennine Routes strategic study: stage 3 report, paragraph 1.4.1, published on 28 November 2016, for what reasons there is an error for the position of the Port of Heysham on the map in figure 1.1.

Mr John Hayes: The government has announced that it intends to invest over £1bn upgrading the A66 between the M6 and the A1, to create the first new continuous dual carriageway link across the Pennines in 45 years. The Port of Heysham was misplaced in figure 1.1 as a result of a consultant error, and the document will be updated shortly to address this.

Railways: Lancashire

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the reliability of the Class 37 locomotives that run between Barrow and Preston; and how many journeys were delayed or cancelled in (a) 2016 and (b) 2015 due to engine failure.

Paul Maynard: This is an operational matter for the train operator. The Class 37 train is due to be replaced from the Northern fleet by the end of 2019.

Southeastern: Rolling Stock

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2016 to Question 55749, what progress has been made by his Department's investment board in considering the business case submitted by Southeastern Railway for additional rolling stock.

Paul Maynard: The Department’s investment board considered Southeastern’s proposal in December 2016. We have concluded the plans are not deliverable as previously proposed, principally because depot-related costs have escalated significantly. As a result, the Department has asked Southeastern and GTR (both owned by Govia) to work together to provide alternative workable solutions for offering additional extra capacity in Southeastern for 2017, including credible stabling options.

Northern Rail: Rolling Stock

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of compliance with disability legislation of railway rolling stock operated by Northern in Lancashire and Cumbria.

Paul Maynard: All new trains being introduced to the Northern franchise will be compliant with modern accessibility standards. Existing trains which are operated by Northern are required to meet these standards by 2020.

Northern Rail: Rolling Stock

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the age of railway rolling stock operated by Northern in Lancashire and Cumbria.

Paul Maynard: The Northern franchise will be transformed thanks to enormous investment in trains – making Northern into an engine for economic growth in the north of England. The operator will oversee the complete removal of the outdated and unpopular Pacers by the end of 2019. It will also invest £400 million in 281 brand new air-conditioned carriages resulting in 98 new-build trains, some of which will serve destinations in both Lancashire and Cumbria. For the remaining fleet a refurbishment will be carried out which will include as a minimum the fitment of passenger information systems, compliance with accessibility regulations and free Wi-Fi to passengers.

Bus Services: Schools

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of trends in the cost of public bus services on school services to passengers.

Andrew Jones: The Department publishes an annual index of local bus fares from 1995 onwards. This table can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/35990/bus0405.xls This index covers operators of local bus services. The Department does not produce an index for local bus operators that operate a school service.The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding setting the level of fares, is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators.

Bus Services

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the cost to passengers of public bus services.

Andrew Jones: The Department publishes an annual index of local bus fares from 1995 onwards. This table can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/35990/bus0405.xls Between 1997 and 2010 local bus fares in England rose annually by 2.2% on average in real terms. Between 2010 and 2016, the comparative figure is 1.2%. The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding setting the level of fares, is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators.

Cycling

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will include in his Department's forthcoming Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy a commitment to create new road environment design standards to encourage cycle use among (a) children and young people, (b) women, (c) older people and (d) people with disabilities.

Andrew Jones: The draft Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy was published on 27 March 2016 for public consultation and we hope to publish the final Strategy shortly. The Department’s guidance in Local Transport Note 2/08: Cycle Infrastructure Design is comprehensive and allows councils to design good, safe schemes that encourages cycling across all demographics. The Department will consider how to refresh this guidance to take account of the new facilities to encourage cycling introduced in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016. Furthermore, the Department is in the process of drafting an Accessibility Action Plan which seeks to address the barriers faced by disabled people in accessing public transport and the wider public realm. We have also begun the process of inviting proposals for a new programme of work to update our guidance on “Inclusive Mobility”. As part of this project we will also update our guidance on the use of tactile paving surfaces.

Aviation

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support the creation of new long-haul air services to airports across the UK to support international trade as part of the new Aviation Policy Framework.

Mr John Hayes: My Department regards air services to and from UK as an economic priority, essential for the creation of jobs and growth. We have the world’s third largest aviation market and are working to maintain and expand it. My officials are active at international, multilateral and bilateral levels to support the expansion of air services. Last year my officials engaged with over 25 countries, ranging from China and Russia to the Bahamas, to renew and update the UK’s air services arrangements. These new arrangements will support the creation of long haul air services to airports across the UK, as well as maximising business opportunities for UK airlines and airports.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: North of England

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is Government policy that the High Speed 2 and Northern Powerhouse rail projects are not developed in isolation; and whether he plans to integrate those two schemes.

Andrew Jones: High Speed Two is being developed in a way that supports the Northern Powerhouse to develop better connectivity between northern cities. The Command Paper High Speed Two: From Crewe to Manchester, the West Midlands to Leeds and beyond published in November 2016 sets this out in some detail.

Cycling

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will include in his Department's forthcoming Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy a commitment to review how the planning system (a) supports and (b) fails to support (i) the creation of quality cycling conditions and (ii) improvements to existing cycling conditions.

Andrew Jones: The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Consultation, published on 27 March 2016, set out how we will help local bodies to take a more strategic approach to improving conditions for cycling and walking by issuing guidelines on the preparation of Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs). LCWIPs will help ensure that consideration is given to cycling and walking within both planning and transport policies and strategies at the local level. We hope to publish the LCWIP guidance shortly.

Driving Tests: Personation

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the nationality was of each person convicted for impersonating a candidate and taking the (a) written and (b) practical parts of the driving test for them in each of the last five years.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency does not record the nationality of each person convicted for impersonating a candidate and taking the (a) written and (b) practical parts of the driving test for them in each of the last five years.

Driving Tests: Personation

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the nationality was of each person convicted for using an impersonator to take the (a) written and (b) practical driving test for them in each of the last five years.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency does not record the nationality of each person convicted for using an impersonator to take the (a) written and (b) practical driving test for them in each of the last five years.

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what date he expects the electrification of the rail line between London and Bristol to be completed.

Paul Maynard: Network Rail is delivering the Great Western Electrification Programme to the dates set out in the latest publication of their Enhancement Delivery plan. This includes completing electrification of the Great Western Mainline between London and Bristol Parkway by December 2018.

Government Car Service: Diesel Vehicles

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many diesel cars there are in the Government Car Service.

Mr John Hayes: The Government Car Service currently operates 55 diesel cars out of 89 overall in the fleet.The Government Car Service has for some time been reviewing their use of diesel cars and has introduced low emission and ultra-low emission vehicles to their fleet as diesel cars become due for replacement. Just this month five diesel cars are due for disposal and they are being replaced by petrol hybrid cars.

Railways: South East

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2016 to Question 46666, when he plans to publish the findings of the London and South Coast Rail Corridor Study.

Paul Maynard: The Government will publish the London and South Coast Rail Corridor Study, and its response to the recommendations, in due course.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the level of insurance costs for new ultra-low emission vehicles.

Mr John Hayes: Analysis carried out for the government in 2015 suggested that insurance premiums are broadly equivalent between electric vehicles and their petrol or diesel equivalents.

Southern: Rolling Stock

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Southern Rail services ran with fewer than their scheduled number of carriages in December 2016.

Paul Maynard: We do not hold this information. The contractual requirement is to measure the amount of trains that run with fewer than the scheduled number of carriages during peak-time hours, not the whole day. And we do not disaggregate the figure to the constituent business groups (Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink), but measure performance across the entire franchise.

Bus Services: Disability

Will Quince: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve disability awareness among bus drivers on the use of a ramp when required for disabled passengers.

Andrew Jones: I am committed to building transport networks that work for everyone, including ensuring that disabled people have the same access to transport services as other members of society. We are currently developing best practice guidance in delivering disability awareness training. This has been informed by engagement with disabled people and the bus industry, and aims to ensure that bus drivers have the knowledge and skills to provide passengers with the appropriate assistance they need, including the use of ramps for wheelchair users.

Taxis: Disability

Will Quince: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is sufficient provision of accessible taxis for disabled people in rural areas.

Andrew Jones: Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) provide a particularly important service for many disabled people, helping them to remain independent and to complete journeys which may not be possible using other forms of transport. I recognise that the availability of wheelchair accessible taxis and PHVs varies across Great Britain, particularly in rural areas. I know too, however, that they can sometimes be difficult to access for some ambulant disabled people. As such we encourage local licensing authorities to use their existing powers to ensure that a range of vehicle categories are represented in their taxi and PHV fleets. We have also introduced powers in the Deregulation Act 2015 to enable the sub-contracting of PHV services across local authority boundaries, helping to ensure that wheelchair accessible vehicles are available wherever they are required.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Compensation

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made by HS2 Ltd on introducing an alternative dispute resolution for landowners relating to compensation.

Andrew Jones: An Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism for the HS2 project will be in place by May, when land for the railway starts to be permanently compulsorily acquired.

High Speed Two

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on when HS2 Ltd plans to appoint an agricultural liaison officer.

Andrew Jones: The Main Works Invitation to Tender documentation issued by HS2 Limited in 2016 included a requirement to appoint an Agricultural Liaison Officer for work undertaken in rural areas. The Contractor, when appointed in late 2017, will provide a dedicated Agricultural Liaison Officer service to address issues arising from landowners and farmers.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Hate Crime

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 9 of the evidence submitted by his Department to the Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry on hate crime and its violent consequences, what training he plans to provide to editors and journalists; and when such training will be implemented.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 09 January 2017



The cross-Government Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group has engaged with the Society of Editors and Independent Press Standards Organisation to discuss ways to tackle the negative portrayal of Muslims in the media. These discussions have considered suitable options for supporting journalists, including on matters of religious literacy such as appropriate terminology. This work is ongoing.

Local Government Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects the fair funding review on local government finance to be completed.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 11 January 2017



The Fair Funding Review is a thorough and detailed review of what the relative needs assessment formula for local councils should be in a world in which local government spending is funded by local resources not central grant. We are working closely with councils to ensure it considers all the issues carefully, which obviously takes time. We have no previse completion date in mind.The review will set individual authority baselines for the 100% Business Rates Retention system.

Local Government Finance

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the recommendations set out in the Casey Review, if he will ensure that changes in the level of immigration are taken into account in the forthcoming fair funding review on local government finance.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 12 January 2017



The Fair Funding Review is conducting a thorough review of what the relative needs assessment formula for local councils should be in a world in which local government spending is funded by local resources not central grant and will set the baselines for 100% Business Rates Retention system. One of the key areas of work for the review is to look at the available evidence about what factors drive the costs local councils face. The Review is considering a number of factors including how to take into account changes in local populations.

Public Sector: Immigrants

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the differences are between the purpose and use of the Migration Impact Fund and the Controlling Migration Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 13 January 2017



As set out in the published prospectus, we have been clear that the new Controlling Migration Fund is about supporting established resident communities coming under pressure from migration, and reflecting locally identified priorities. It also specifically supports action to tackle issues associated with illegal migration, by better enabling local authorities to inform immigration enforcement priorities.

Councillors: Council Tax

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local councillors have been sent official reminder letters for not paying council tax in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 13 January 2017



My Department does not hold information about the number of official reminder letters issued by local authorities about payment of council tax.

Social Rented Housing

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many families were on the social housing waiting lists in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 13 January 2017



The numbers of households on local authority waiting lists for each local authority in England since 1997 is published in live table 600 which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-rents-lettings-and-tenanciesFigures are not available at constituency level.

Private Rented Housing: Tenants

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people have been registered as private tenants in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 13 January 2017



The Department's English Housing Survey shows that 19% (4.3 million) of households lived in the private rented sector in England in 2014-15, the latest year for which data are available. Data back to 1997 are available on the DCLG website:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/501068/2014-15_Section_1_Households_tables_and_figures_FINAL.xlsx. See AT1.1.Estimates are not available for constituency or local authority district and the Department does not publish regional estimates.There is no ’registration’ requirement or process, so these estimates relate to all private renters.

Social Rented Housing: Tenants

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people have been registered as council tenants in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 13 January 2017



The number of local authority owned dwellings let by local authorities in England is published in live table 602https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-rents-lettings-and-tenanciesFigures are not available at constituency level.Detailed local authority level figures are available from 2011-12 in the published Local authority housing statistics data returns available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2015-to-2016https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2014-to-2015https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2013-to-2014https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2012-to-2013https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2011-to-2012

Affordable Housing

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many affordable new homes have been built in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 13 January 2017



The numbers of additional affordable dwellings provided in local authorities across England since 1997 is published in live table 1008C available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supplyFigures are not available at constituency level.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many social rented homes have been built in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 13 January 2017



The numbers of additional social rent dwellings provided in local authorities across England are available in table 1006C which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supplyFigures are not available at constituency level.

Affordable Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library the modelling, workings and data on which the impact assessment of changes to affordable housing announced in the Autumn Statement 2016 were based.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 13 January 2017



The fiscal impact of the changes to affordable housing funding announced at Autumn statement 2016 was included as part of the OBR’s policy costings which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571402/Policy_Costings_AS_2016_web_final.pdf

Disability: Public Lavatories

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of changing places facilities in shopping centres across the UK.

Gavin Barwell: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 13 December 2016 on the funding for supported housing consultation.

Gavin Barwell: I replied to the Rt Hon Member's letter on 16 January.

Local Plans

Mims Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the duty to cooperate in the development of local plans.

Gavin Barwell: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

New Homes Bonus Scheme: Peterborough

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much New Homes Bonus funding Peterborough City Council has received in each year since 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Gavin Barwell: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Council Tax

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether principal local authorities have the ability to set different levels of Band D council tax for different parts of their local authority area; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Services: Finance

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the adult social care support grant will be allocated to local authorities for 2018-19 on a similar distribution to that of 2017-18.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Council Tax and Non-domestic Rates: Dorset

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the level of (a) council tax arrears and (b) non-domestic rate arrears was on 31 March 2016 in (i) Bournemouth Borough Council, (ii) Christchurch Borough Council, (iii) Poole and (iv) East Dorset District Council.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Property Development: Derelict Land

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) the small sites exemption and (b) vacant building credit as part of planning policy in respect of developing new residential homes on brownfield land; and if he will make a statement.

Gavin Barwell: Holding answer received on 13 January 2017



Developing brownfield land continues to be a priority for Government. In 2015-16 there was a four per cent increase in the proportion of new residential addresses created on previously developed land to 61 per cent.The Vacant Building Credit, which is part of Government policy on Section 106 planning obligations, was introduced to incentivise development on brownfield land and bringing empty buildings back into use. An independent review of Community Infrastructure Levy, including its relationship with Section 106 planning obligations, was commissioned by Government in 2015 and reported to Ministers in October 2016. Government is reviewing the recommendations of the review group and will make further announcements in due course.

Parking: Trade Associations

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will require private car parking firms to join an accredited trade association.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 12 January 2017



We have set out a clear manifesto commitment in England to tackle aggressive parking enforcement and excessive parking charges, and we are taking steps to tackle rogue and unfair practices by private parking operators. This Government has put in place a range of measures to deal with aggressive activities of private parking companies, including the banning of wheel clamping and towing. We are considering further reform.Off-street parking policy is however a devolved matter to Scotland, and as such accreditation is a matter for the Scottish Government. Therefore, I can only comment on the accredited trade associations with respect to England.

Communities and Local Government: EU Law

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which EU directives relating to his Department's responsibilities are awaiting transposition into UK law.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Green Belt

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of greenbelt land in (a) Greater Manchester, (b) the North West and (c) England the public has access to.

Gavin Barwell: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Flood Control: EU Grants and Loans

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2016 to Question 56007, when he expects to receive a decision from the EU Solidarity Fund on assistance with recovery from flood damage.

Andrew Percy: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Construction

Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local authorities on the creation of new garden villages.

Gavin Barwell: We have recently announced our support for 14 new garden villages, with the potential to deliver more than 48,000 homes across England, alongside new jobs, new facilities and a real boost to local economies. We will continue to engage with local authorities to deliver locally-led proposals for high quality new communities.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new homes for social rent were started in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2015-16.

Gavin Barwell: 33,490 new homes for social rent were started in 2009/10; and 6,550 in 2015/16.We are building homes for affordable rent because it requires less subsidy. This means we can build more homes for affordable rent, than social rent, for every pound of Government investment

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Staff

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to base staff of his Department working on industrial strategy in offices outside London.

Mr Nick Hurd: Holding answer received on 05 September 2016






An error has been identified in the written answer given on 19 October 2016.The correct answer should have been:

The Department announced its decision earlier this year to create a combined headquarters and policy function in London, to deliver a simpler, smaller department that is more flexible and responsive to stakeholders and businesses by 2020. This involves basing all policy roles in London by 2018, which will include those roles working on Industrial Strategy issues. Given the recent Machinery of Government changes, over the coming months BEIS will be considering what the right structure for the Department should be, in order to deliver its objectives.

Mr Nick Hurd: Holding answer received on 05 September 2016



The Department announced its decision earlier this year to create a combined headquarters and policy function in London, to deliver a simpler, smaller department that is more flexible and responsive to stakeholders and businesses by 2020. This involves basing all policy roles in London by 2018, which will include those roles working on Industrial Strategy issues. Given the recent Machinery of Government changes, over the coming months BEIS will be considering what the right structure for the Department should be, in order to deliver its objectives.

Minimum Wage

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2016 to Question 55486, how many of the 687 employers named by his Department for non-compliance with the national minimum wage under the naming and shaming scheme have identified further arrears not included in the sum of arrears for which they were named under the self-correction mechanism; what the total was of those further self-corrected arrears; and to how many workers those further self-corrected arrears were owed.

Margot James: The requested information will require some time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member with the requested information and place a copy of my response in the House library.

Small Business Commissioner

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made on establishing and appointing a Small Business Commissioner under the Enterprise Act 2016; and what the timescale is for the appointment of that Commissioner.

Margot James: We expect to appoint the Commissioner in 2017 and we are completing the rest of the implementation in parallel. This includes consulting on, preparing and laying secondary legislation on the Commissioner’s complaints handling function. Our public consultation on these Regulations closed in December and we are preparing the Government Response. Work is also ongoing to setup the Commissioner’s office and create a web presence.

Directors: Disqualification

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many director disqualifications in relation to convictions abroad there have been under section 104 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.

Margot James: There have been no director disqualifications in relation to convictions abroad under section 104 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015

Companies Act 2006

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many convictions there have been for general false statement offences under section 1112 of the Companies Act 2006 since 1 January 2015.

Margot James: There have been no convictions for general false statement offences under the section referred to since 1st January 2015.

Companies Act 2006

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many financial penalties have been awarded in relation to Directors' statement and auditor's report to be available for inspection under section 720(5) of the Companies Act 2006 since 1 January 2015.

Margot James: Since 1st January 2015, no financial penalties have been awarded in relation to the section referred to.

Companies House: Staff

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people work for the breaches team at Companies House (a) in total and (b) as full-time equivalents.

Margot James: Six people (equating to six full-time equivalents) work for the Breaches Team at Companies House.

Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many company officers and Limited Liability Partnership designated members have been fined for offences under sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 since 31 January 2015.

Margot James: No company officers or Limited Liability Partnership designated members have been fined under the sections referred to since 31st January 2015.

Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total value is of fines collected for companies officers' offences under sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 since 31 January 2015.

Margot James: The total value of fines collected since 31st January 2015 for companies’ officers’ offences under the sections referred to is nil.

Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total value is of fines for companies' offences under sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 since 31 January 2015.

Margot James: The total value of fines collected since 31st January 2015 for companies’ officers’ offences under the sections referred to is nil.

Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many registered offices, inspection places and business locations the Companies House Breaches Team has visited in order to verify companies' compliance with sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 since 31 January 2015.

Margot James: Enforcement of Section 21, 22 and 23 of the Company Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations is undertaken in response to information being brought to the attention of Companies House or another enforcement agencies attention, rather than through pro-active enforcement visits. Companies House's primary aim will be to try to achieve compliance. If the company does not comply, the case will be referred to prosecutors and a prosecution will be bought if it is deemed to be in the public interest. In the event of a conviction the Court would impose the appropriate penalty. Companies House has received two complaints under these sections. Of these two complied when contacted by Companies House and one company was on a dissolution path and so no further action was taken as it would not have been in the public interest as defined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many registered offices and inspection places there are in relation to sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015.

Margot James: There are 4,086,190 registered offices and inspection locations in relation to sections 21, 22, and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2006.

Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies have been fined for offences under sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 since 31 January 2015.

Margot James: No companies have been fined for offences under the sections referred to since 31st January 2015.

Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many non-dormant UK companies and Limited Liability Partnerships Companies House Breaches Team monitors for breaches of sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015.

Margot James: Companies House’s Breaches Team does not monitor for breaches of sections 21, 22, and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015. It acts on receipt of a public complaint and during the period Companies House received three complaints.

Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies the Companies House Breaches Team has investigated for breaches of sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 since 31 January 2015.

Margot James: Companies House received three public complaints surrounding sections 21, 22, and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015. Of these complaints two complied when contacted by Companies House and one company was on a dissolution path and so no further action was taken as it would not have been in the public interest as defined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies have been found guilty of offences under sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015.

Margot James: No companies have been found guilty of offences under the sections referred to since 31st January 2015

Employment

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on UK jobs of the UK leaving the Single Market in the five years (a) before and (b) after that action is taken.

Margot James: Departments are currently doing some analysis with the Department for Exiting the European Union to understand the impacts that withdrawal from the EU will have on businesses, consumers and other economic actors. Due to the decisions this Government has taken, the British economy is fundamentally strong and we are well-positioned to negotiate our departure from the EU. Employment is at a record high. There are over two million more people in employment compared with 2010 and around 900,000 fewer unemployed.

Companies: Registration

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps Companies House takes to ensure that all legally required Limited Liability Partnership filing information is provided.

Margot James: All liability partnerships (LLPs) have a legal requirement to file annual accounts and Confirmation Statements with the Registrar each and every year. Failure to do so is a criminal offence and Companies House has a proactive system in place. This includes reminders being issued prior the deadline dates and, if they are not filed, there is a compliance process that reminds them of their obligations and the consequences of failing to file. If it is deemed to be in the public interest Companies House will take prosecution action against the LLP and its designated members.For all other information legally required to be filed, on receipt of a public complaint, Companies House will consider what action to take. Companies House’s primary aim will be to try to achieve compliance. If the company does not comply, the case will be referred to prosecutors and a prosecution will be brought if it is deemed to be in the public interest. In the event of a conviction the Court would impose the appropriate penalty.

Companies: Registration

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which UK government agency is responsible for ensuring that Limited Liability Partnership registrations comply with section 18 of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009.

Margot James: Companies House has the initial responsibility for ensuring Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) comply with their responsibilities under section 18 of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009. Companies House will consider what action to take on receipt of a public complaint that an LLP has failed to meet its obligations under section 162(6) of the Companies Act 2006, as applied by section 18 of the 2009 Regulations. Companies House's primary aim will be to try to achieve compliance. If the LLP does not comply, the case will be referred to prosecutors and a prosecution will be brought if it is deemed to be in the public interest.

Companies: Registration

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what sanctions have been applied against Limited Liability Partnership designated members that are offshore corporate members and did not supply the details specified in section 18 of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009 since the coming into force of those regulations.

Margot James: No sanctions have been applied to Limited Liability Partnership designated members that are offshore corporate members and did not supply the details specified in section 18 of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009 in each of the last three years, the latest period for which information is available. Companies House has not received any public complaints related to this. Were it to do so it would consider what action to take. Companies House's primary aim would be to try to achieve compliance. If the LLP did not comply, the case would be referred to prosecutors and a prosecution would be brought if it were deemed to be in the public interest. In the event of a conviction the Court would impose the appropriate penalty.

Renewable Energy: Cooperatives

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to put into domestic law protection for the new rights for community energy groups introduced in the EU's Renewable Energy Directive and Electricity Directive once the UK has left the EU.

Jesse Norman: Formal negotiations on the Commission’s proposals for a revision of the Directive on renewable energy and the Directive on common rules for the internal market in electricity have not yet started. While we remain in the EU, the UK will play a full role in the negotiations, considering all implications for UK, including for community energy groups.As the formal negotiations have not begun, it would be premature to consider the extent to which any additional rights might be introduced in the UK.The Department is separately engaging with stakeholders to explore next steps for community and local energy in the context of the forthcoming Emissions Reduction Plan.

Forum on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the terms of reference are of the Forum on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation; who the members of that forum are; when that forum plans to meet; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Stakeholder Working Group on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation had its first meeting on 14 December 2016. Membership of the Group includes representatives from Higher Education, Research and Innovation funders, National Academies, Learned Societies and Business. The full membership and the terms of reference will be published in due course.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yemen: Military Intervention

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will publish the findings on which its assessment of alleged violations of international humanitarian law by airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is based.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) monitors and analyses incidents of alleged International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations using available information which in turn is used by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to form an overall view on the approach and attitude of Saudi Arabia to IHL. The FCO is not acting to determine whether a sovereign state has or has not acted in breach of IHL, but instead as Criterion 2(c) requires – acting to make an overall judgement.It is important to make clear that neither the MOD nor the FCO reaches a conclusion as to whether or not an IHL violation has taken place in relation to each and every incident of potential concern that comes to its attention. This would simply not be possible in conflicts to which the UK is not a party, as is the case in Yemen.

Arctic: Environment Protection

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect the Arctic environment and its eco-system.

Sir Alan Duncan: The rapid changes taking place in the Arctic pose immense challenges for Arctic States as well as for neighbouring countries including the UK. The Government is actively engaged in protecting the Arctic environment and ecological system. The UK promotes greater understanding of the Arctic through international scientific collaboration and the development of policy based on sound science. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) works with other countries to build an understanding of the threats and opportunities posed by climate change. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) works with the Arctic Council to protect migratory bird species across the Arctic and the UK. The UK's leading role in reducing human-generated greenhouse gas emissions is vital to safeguarding the Arctic environment, as is our engagement in key international organisations. A £16 million research programme funded by NERC over the next 5 years will focus on the effects of changes to sea ice cover on the marine eco-system in the Arctic.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Staff

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of his Department's staff he plans to work on conducting negotiations with the EU after Article 50 has been triggered.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) under Rt Hon David Davis is the lead department supporting the Prime Minister in her negotiations for leaving the EU. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also has a key role to play, and staff in the FCO's Europe Directorate lead on providing advice to FCO Ministers on EU-related issues. Staff in other Directorates in London, as well as in our diplomatic missions around the world, can also work on EU-related issues. Their work will support negotiations after Article 50 has been invoked.

Turkey: Politics and Government

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the objectives of the Government's diplomatic and political policy on Turkey are for 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK’s objectives are to strengthen our partnership with Turkey to help keep the UK safer and more prosperous - including working together for regional stability and security, ensuring the safety of British tourists, and improving markets for British exporters and growing inward investment.

Pakistan: Politics and Government

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the objectives of the Government's diplomatic and political policy on Pakistan are for 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The UK and Pakistan are joined by enduring bonds of friendship and partnership. We have a strong bilateral relationship and are keen to make it even stronger.On 14 August 2017 Pakistan will celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the creation of Pakistan. With an estimated 1.2 million people of Pakistani heritage in the UK, this is an opportunity to highlight our common history, cultural and people to people links, as well as to deepen our partnership for the future.Pakistan is making improvements in security, economically and politically and is delivering better lives for its people. The UK's political priorities in Pakistan for 2017 include the continued strengthening of democracy ahead of elections in 2018; the consolidation of economic and security gains made over recent years through relevant reforms; and an improvement in regional relations that leads to a more stable South Asia, enabling greater economic growth and prosperity. We are making efforts to enhance trade and investment between our countries. And, alongside this, we remain committed to supporting Pakistan in building a society where the rights of all its citizens are respected and their prospects in health, education and employment are improved, all of which is an investment in the UK's security and national interest. Finally, the UK and Pakistan will continue to tackle jointly threats such as illegal migration, organised crime and terrorism, whilst working together to enhance Pakistan's criminal justice system.

Russia: Politics and Government

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the objectives of the Government's diplomatic and political policy on Russia are for 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Government's objectives in respect of Russia are to protect UK interests and those of our allies and partners; to uphold the rules-based international order in the face of Russian challenges; to engage with Russia in key areas of shared interest; to promote our values, including the rule of law and human rights; and to build stronger links between the British and Russian people more widely. We continue to have significant differences with Russia, notably over their actions in Syria and ongoing destabilisation of Ukraine. It would be a mistake to go back to business as usual whilst these are unresolved, so a twin track strategy of vigilance and of engagement is what is required.

Palestinians: Politics and Government

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the objectives of the Government's diplomatic and political policy on Palestine are for 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK’s longstanding position is clear: we support a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state based on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states, and a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees. We are encouraging both sides to resume direct bilateral negotiations and we work through international organisations, including the UN and EU, to encourage Israel and the Palestinian Authority to take steps that rebuild trust.

Tourism: Elephants

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that UK citizens travelling to India, Thailand and other elephant-range states are made aware of the illegal practice of capturing and breaking young elephants for use in the tourism industry.

Alok Sharma: The United Kingdom is committed to conserving Asian elephants and recognises the growing threats to their populations. We have been working internationally through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to increase protection for Asian elephants, specifically with regard to the illegal cross border trade in live elephants which has been used to supply the tourism and logging industries. In August, officials from DEFRA met Indian officials in London to discuss the treatment of captive Asian elephants, the illegal trade in live elephants and the broader illegal wildlife trade. Whilst HMG does not offer advice to British citizens on ethical issues, such as the practice of keeping animals in captivity abroad, we will continue to work with the relevant government authorities and non-government organisations on this important issue.

India: Sexual Offences

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of women's rights in Bangalore after reports of alleged sexual assaults on women in that country on New Year's Eve 2016.

Alok Sharma: We are aware of reports about the incident which took place in Bangalore on New Year's Eve, and welcome the action taken by the police who have arrested four people in relation to this.The UK is committed to tackling violence against women and girls around the world. We work with the Indian government and civil society organisations to support their efforts to tackle this critical challenge including through a variety of project work covering key issues such as promoting women and girls' rights.

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has asked the Pakistani High Commissioner to lift the seal on the Ahmadi mosque in Chakwal.

Alok Sharma: I condemn the attack on the Ahmadiyya mosque in Chakwal on 12 December. The Government strongly condemns the persecution of all minorities, including the targeting of people based on their beliefs.We regularly raise our concerns about the protection of minority communities, including religious minorities, with the Government of Pakistan. During my visit to Pakistan last week, I discussed the protection of religious minorities, including the Ahmadiyya, with Kamran Michael, Pakistani Minister for Human Rights, and Barrister Zafarullah Khan, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant for Human Rights. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Boris Johnson), raised religious tolerance and the importance of safeguarding the rights of all Pakistan's citizens when he visited Pakistan in November 2016. The Government continues to urge Pakistan to honour in practice its human rights obligations, including those related to religious minorities, and to uphold the rule of law.

UK Permanent Representation to the EU: Public Appointments

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the earliest date is on which the Government expects (a) to appoint a replacement for Sir Ivan Rogers and (b) for his successor to be in post.

Sir Alan Duncan: Sir Tim Barrow was appointed as the new Permanent Representative to the European Union on Wednesday 4 January, and has already taken up his role.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the number of Yemeni civilians who have been killed in airstrikes since the bombing of a funeral hall in Sanaa on 10 October 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We do not hold accurate numbers of Yemeni civilians who have been killed in airstrikes. We deeply regret the loss of civilian lives in any conflict and continue to urge the Yemeni parties to implement a sustainable cessation of hostilities and work towards reaching a peace agreement for the sake of the people of Yemen.

Palestinians: Equality

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to work with the Palestinian Authority to promote gender equality in the Palestinian territories.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer of 24 October 2016 (PQ 48760).

Israeli Settlements

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what formal and informal discussions his Department had with the US administration before the UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) vote was taken.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: ​The resolution was an Egyptian draft and not UK co-sponsored. The UK engaged with security council members before the UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) vote, as we do with all Security Council products. Where we did engage we worked to secure a balanced text that includes calls to end incitement and terrorism .

Israeli Settlements

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department provided in the drafting process for UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016).

Mr Tobias Ellwood: ​The resolution was an Egyptian draft and not UK co-sponsored. The UK engaged with the text, as we do all Security Council products. Where we did engage, we worked to secure a balanced text that includes calls to end incitement and terrorism We would not have voted for any text without those balancing elements.

Israeli Settlements

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Ministers of his Department were made aware of the final text of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) before the vote on that resolution took place.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: ​The relevant UK ministers were aware of the text of the resolution before the vote took place. The UK voted for UN Security Council Resolution 2334 because of our support for the two state solution and commitment to Israel as the Jewish homeland.

Israeli Settlements

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contribution his Department made to the drafting and promoting of UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The resolution was an Egyptian draft and not UK co-sponsored. The UK engaged with the text, as we do all Security Council products. Where we did engage we worked to secure a balanced text that includes calls to end incitement and terrorism We would not have voted for any text without those balancing elements.

Israeli Settlements

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department held with 10 Downing Street before the UN Security Council Resolution 2334 vote took place in December 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office discussed the UK’s voting position on UNSCR 2334 with 10 Downing Street prior to the vote in the UN Security Council. The UK’s support for UNSCR 2334 is consistent with our long held position that Israeli settlement activity is illegal and undermines the viability of two states for two peoples. As the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) stated in her speech to the Conservative Friends of Israel in December, the UK remains one of Israel’s strongest friends, but it is important as a true friend to stress that settlements are illegal.

Arctic: Environment Protection

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on protection of the Arctic environment and its eco-system.

Sir Alan Duncan: The British Government is committed to the protection of the Arctic environment through bilateral and multilateral engagement in the region. The UK is an observer to the Arctic Council and actively engages its working groups and task forces, encouraging expert engagement as appropriate. The Arctic is often discussed in bilateral discussions with representatives of the Arctic States. My Hon Friend, the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Jo Johnson) attended the first White House Arctic Science Ministerial meeting in September 2016, meeting science Ministers from 24 other countries and representatives from Arctic Indigenous peoples' organisations to advance international reserch efforts focused on the Arctic .

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Labour Mobility

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many civil servants in each unit of his Department are in the redeployment pool.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not have a redeployment pool.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Resignations

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK-based staff of his Department have resigned since September 2016.

Sir Alan Duncan: Five UK-based staff resigned from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the period 1 October to 31 December 2016.

China: Human Rights

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the protection of (a) Ilham Tohti and (b) other human rights defenders in China.

Alok Sharma: We raised the case of the Professor Ilham Tohti and other human rights defenders with the Chinese authorities at the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 27 October, the opening of which I attended. We called upon the Chinese authorities to release Professor Ilham Tohti and those in detention for peacefully expressing their views. We also called for human rights activists detained in China to have their civil and political rights protected, in accordance with China's constitution and international human right commitments.

Mahmoud Abu Zeid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has raised the detention of photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid with the Egyptian government.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK Government regularly raises human rights concerns with the Egyptian authorities, including the detention of journalists. We have also raised our concerns about human rights in Egypt at the UN's Human Rights Council and supported an EU statement in September which specifically expressed concerns about the arrests of journalists in Egypt.

Arctic: Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions took place with the Scottish Government before the publication of the document, Adapting to Change: UK Policy towards the Arctic in October 2013.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK's Arctic Policy Framework, Adapting to Change: UK Policy towards the Arctic, was compiled by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), with input on specific areas of policy from each relevant Whitehall Department. Policy Departments are responsible for engaging the Devolved Administrations, as appropriate. However, in developing a revised framework, to be published later this year, the FCO has also opened a direct dialogue with the Scottish Government.

Arctic: Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the contribution Scotland could make to the UK's policy on the Arctic.

Sir Alan Duncan: Foreign Office officials recently met Scottish Government officials to exchange views on the UK's Arctic Policy Framework and Scotland's interests in the region.

Arctic Council

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, to how many of the Arctic Council working groups the UK contributes; and who attends each such working group as the UK's representatives.

Sir Alan Duncan: As a State Observer, the British Government monitors all of the Arctic Council's working groups and task forces, contributing to those on which the UK can have a genuine impact. The UK contributes to the work of the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna and the Arctic Monitoring Assessment Programme (AMAP) working groups.UK attendance is by both Government officials and non-Governmental experts, depending on the nature of the meeting and the desired UK input. Foreign Office officials, representatives from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the British Antarctic Survey have all attended recent meetings.

Arctic Council

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many Arctic Council meetings the UK has participated in during the last five years.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK has participated in all Ministerial and Senior Arctic Officials meetings of the Arctic Council held in the last five years.

Diplomatic Service

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2016 to Question 57858, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the European Council about continuing to share diplomatic premises with EU institutions.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly reviews the suitability of its premises overseas, including those it shares with other countries and international organisations.

Syria: Peace Negotiations

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government intends to participate in future Syrian peace talks that build on those that were previously conducted in Astana.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The planned talks in Astana have not yet taken place. We hope that they can contribute to a UN-led process. The United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria has indicated a plan to hold UN-mediated talks in Geneva in February. The British Government will continue to support the work of the UN including through our role in the UN Security Council and in the International Syria Support Group.

Israel: Palestinians

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's policy is in respect of the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK Government’s longstanding policy on the Middle East peace process is well known. We support a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.

Shai Masot

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the immigration status is of Shai Masot.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Mr Shai Masot, who was notified to Her Majesty's Government as a member of the Israeli Embassy's administrative and technical staff, is exempt from UK immigration control.

Algeria: Foreign Relations

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the objectives of the Government's diplomatic and political policy on Algeria are for 2017.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government is working with Algeria to achieve its goals of sustainable security, stability and prosperity in the country and the wider region.

Mali: Foreign Relations

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the objectives of the Government's diplomatic and political policy on Mali are for 2017.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK's primary objective in Mali remains to support the country in providing long-term stability. To achieve this we are working closely with international partners to support the implementation of the Peace Accord as well as building the capacity of the Malian civilian and military security forces, combating violent extremism and tackling irregular migration. We are also providing humanitarian and development assistance that helps Mali, and the wider Sahel region, become more resilient to climatic and economic shocks, with greater economic opportunities and better social protection.

Tunisia: Foreign Relations

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the objectives of the Government's diplomatic and political policy on Tunisia are for 2017.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: ​The Government is committed to supporting Tunisia to realise its ambitions as a stable democracy with a growing economy, and to help the country to maintain its security in light of the threats from terrorism in the region.

Saudi Arabia: Foreign Relations

Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with Saudi government officials in the last six months.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Foreign Office Ministers, our Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and officials have frequent meetings with the Saudi Government and officials to discuss a full range of regional and bilateral issues. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson), visited Saudi Arabia on 11 December.

Israel: Diplomatic Service

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the compliance of Israel's diplomatic representatives in the UK with their obligation under article 41 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations on not interfering in the internal affairs of another signatory state; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers considered the Vienna Convention implications of the alleged behaviour of an Israeli Embassy official. The Israeli Ambassador has made a full apology and we consider the matter closed.

Burma: Rohingya

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on violence against Rohingya Muslims in Burma.

Alok Sharma: We are concerned by a number of disturbing reports of human rights violations and violence against Rohingya Muslims by security forces in Rakhine State. We have made several representations to the Government of Burma and called for humanitarian access both through our ambassador and also through Ministerial contacts. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns, visited Burma from 9-12 November and urged Burmese Government Ministers to ensure the full resumption of humanitarian aid and to set up an independent investigation into allegations of human rights violations. I also raised this in person with the Burmese Minister of Construction, when he visited London on 29 November. We will continue to monitor developments closely and to raise our concerns at every suitable opportunity.

Republic of Ireland: Foreign Relations

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what was discussed during his most recent exchange with his counterpart in Ireland.

Sir Alan Duncan: My ministerial colleagues and I have regular contact with our Irish counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues, including the UK's exit from the EU, Northern Ireland and defence. I met the Irish Europe Minister Dara Murphy on 8 December 2016; the Foreign Secretary has met his counterpart regularly at the Foreign Affairs Council; and the Prime Minister is due to visit Dublin at the end of January.

Syria: Peace Negotiations

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2016 to Question 57778, on Syria: Armed Conflict, what the Government's policy is on re-establishing dialogue with the Assad Regime as part of multilateral peace talks.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The British Government supports all genuine efforts towards sustained peace in Syria. We welcome the efforts of Russia, Turkey and Iran to secure a ceasefire deal. We hope that talks planned to take place in Astana can contribute to a UN-led political process, although we note a series of ceasefire violations, including by regime forces. Only a political settlement can stop the war and bring the peace the Syrian people deserve. We believe that this will ultimately require a transition away from Asad: he cannot unite the country because of the atrocities he has perpetrated against the Syrian people.

Cabinet Office

Employment: EU Nationals

Mr Pat McFadden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of EU nationals working in each sector of the UK economy.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - EU Nationals
(PDF Document, 162.62 KB)

Cabinet Office: Labour Mobility

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants in each unit of his Department are in the redeployment pool.

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants in each unit of 10 Downing Street are in the redeployment pool.

Ben Gummer: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office and is included in this reply.The redeployment pool in the Cabinet Office ceased to exist in 2012 so there are no civil servants in a redeployment pool in this Department.

Cabinet Office: Procurement

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on his Department's public procurement policies.

Ben Gummer: The current public procurement rules will continue to apply until the UK has left the EU following the successful conclusion of exit negotiations. The future options for our procurement policies are being considered carefully.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Labour Mobility

Tom Brake: To ask the Attorney General, how many civil servants in each unit of the Law Officers' Departments are in the redeployment pool.

Robert Buckland: Within the Law Officer’s Departments, the Attorney General's Office, Government Legal Department and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate do not have a redeployment pool. The Crown Prosecution Service has eight staff currently in the redeployment pool and the Serious Fraud Office has less than five staff.

CPS Direct

Karl Turner: To ask the Attorney General, what the average call (a) answer time and (b) length was for CPS Direct in each year since 2012.

Robert Buckland: The call handling system used by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) provides precise timings on queuing time of all calls received. Figures on length of call have been estimated from available data.In 2012-13 the average answer time was 2 minutes 43 seconds; 2013-14 4 minutes 18; 2014-15 12 minutes 34; 2015-16 16 minutes 05 and 2016-17 25 minutes 03.For the corresponding years the length of call has reduced from 39 minutes 15 seconds in 2012, 29 minutes 31 in 2013, 26 minutes 52 in 2014, 24 minutes 51 in 2015 and 23 minutes 02 in 2016.Throughout this period there have been many changes to the process of CPS authorisation of police charging making year-on-year comparisons potentially misleading.Issues which adversely affected efficiency in the summer of 2016 have now been addressed and the current daily average answering times are below 6 minutes.

Department for International Development

International Assistance

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her Department's priority countries are; and which of her Department's country offices will receive reduced support following her Department's recent policy reviews.

Rory Stewart: As the Bilateral Development Review set out, DFID is increasing investment in fragile states and countries emerging from conflict, and significantly scaling up support for the Middle East. We are focussing more strongly on the Sahel, alongside our work in northern Nigeria, Somalia and other countries in the ‘arc of instability’ in Africa.DFID’s allocations are continually reviewed to ensure development assistance is used most effectively to achieve poverty reduction in the national interest and responds to changing global needs. Planned programme allocations for 2016/17 and 2017/18 in the countries where we currently have direct activities were published in DFID’s 2015/16 Annual Report.

International Assistance

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she plans to publish details of funding allocations to multilateral organisations reviewed in the Multilateral Development Review.

Rory Stewart: All UK ODA funding to multilateral organisations is published annually as part of the UK Government’s Statistics on International Development. The 2015 allocations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-2016Future allocations to multilaterals will take account of the findings of the Multilateral Development Review. We will announce any new funding agreements at the time they are reached.

Developing Countries: Poverty

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Multilateral Development Review, what poverty measures additional to national income multilateral agencies are encouraged to use in reaching investment decisions.

Rory Stewart: The UK challenges all multilateral organisations that it funds to increase the amount of support they provide to the poorest countries and to fragile and conflict-affected states. As part of the Multilateral Development Review multilaterals were assessed on this and on how their aid reaches the most vulnerable in society, in keeping with the UK’s commitment to the Global Goals.

South Sudan and Yemen: Overseas Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that her decisions on levels of aid to South Sudan and Yemen do not affect aid decisions made by other countries.

Rory Stewart: DFID’s support to fragile states like South Sudan and Yemen is a combination of predictable development assistance and additional humanitarian assistance allocated in-year to respond to rapidly changing needs. In making our resource allocations, we take account of other donors’ pledges and encourage them to maintain or step-up the international effort alongside the UK.For example, in September 2016, the Secretary of State chaired an international event on Yemen at the United Nations General Assembly, aimed at shining a spotlight on the humanitarian crisis. At the event, donors pledged over $100 million in new funding for Yemen, half of which was from the UK, and UN agencies committed to strengthening the humanitarian response on the ground. The UK’s financial support to Yemen in 2016/17 is now expected to be in the region of £100 million.

Israel: Palestinians

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to provide support to projects intended to foster coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians in the Palestinian territories.

Rory Stewart: DFID is developing a programme of support to coexistence in Israel and the OPTs. UK support will help Israelis and Palestinians work together to achieve tangible improvements in their lives and build understanding between people on both sides of the conflict. The programme is now in its final design phase, aiming for launch in due course.

Israel: Palestinians

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the creation of an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Rory Stewart: DFID and FCO officials are assessing the viability of an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace and its alignment with the UK’s objectives on the Middle East Peace Process.

EU Aid

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on the future allocation of the UK's current contribution to EU development funds.

Rory Stewart: Departments’ ministers and officials have regular discussions with their Cabinet and Whitehall colleagues about the implications of leaving the EU and making a success of Brexit.

Department for International Development: Non-governmental Organisations

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to develop a partnership charter with non-governmental organisations.

Rory Stewart: The Civil Society Partnership Review (CSPR) sets out DFID’s approach to working with and funding civil society organisations (CSOs). Our primary aim has been, and will continue to be, working with civil society to achieve a world free of poverty. The CSPR announced a new approach for meaningful, strategic and efficient engagement with civil society in the UK and overseas. This includes the introduction of a CSO Statement of Priorities and Expectations for all CSOs funded by DFID by April 2017 and a Key Relationship Management Programme for selected CSOs by the end of 2017. This will enhance the value from our joint work and contribute to promoting continuous improvement of standards and practices and maximising value for money for the taxpayer.

Developing Countries: Age

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to improve its disaggregation of development data by age.

Rory Stewart: In May 2016 DFID hosted an International conference on age data disaggregation for the Sustainable Development Goals. DFID has now developed a data disaggregation action plan covering steps DFID will take internally to improve its disaggregation of results data, including by age. We will launch the plan at the first UN World Data Forum on the 15-18 January 2017.

Department for International Development: Contracts

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many contractors working (a) directly for and (b) on projects funded by her Department have been paid more than £400 a day in each financial year since 2012.

Rory Stewart: The information is not held in the form requested and can only be collated at a disproportionate cost.

Syria: Water

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations her Department has made to its international counterparts on water shortages in and around Damascus.

Rory Stewart: DFID takes the water shortages around Damascus seriously and is in close contact with the World Health Organisation and UNICEF who are on the ground, and with other leading donors - including the EU, Germany and the US to address these issues.

Syria: Water

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what information her Department holds on the availability of water in and around the Damascus area.

Rory Stewart: Ongoing fighting and damage to water facilities has left up to 5.5 million people in and around Damascus without mains water supplies since 22 December. Clean water is currently available through 120 wells in and around Damascus that have been rehabilitated by UNICEF. These provide about one third of the city's daily water needs. In addition, UNICEF and the UN Relief and Works Agency are delivering water by truck into Damascus from other sources. Many residents in the city are buying water from private vendors, where prices and water quality are unregulated.

Syria: Overseas Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is providing to civilians in and around Idlib.

Rory Stewart: DFID has committed £734 million to support vulnerable people in Syria, including in Idlib. DFID has funded the UN and NGOs to provide food, education, healthcare and cash grants to support civilians in Idlib city, as well as around Idlib governorate. This includes support to those who have moved to Idlib following the fall of eastern Aleppo city.

Department for International Development: Non-governmental Organisations

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to consult non-governmental organisations on the next stages of policy development in relation to her Department's recent programme of multilateral and bilateral development reviews.

Rory Stewart: In the Civil Society Review we set out how we will engage with Non-Governmental Organisations in the future, for example we will host an annual civil society open day and UK regional roadshows to ensure we involve a broader range of organisations. NGOs contributed views to the Multilateral Development Review and Bilateral Development Review. Ministers and officials also consulted BOND, the body that represents UK international development NGOs. We will continue to work closely with them and will discuss the next steps on both reviews in due course.

EU Aid

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department will continue to fund (a) the European Commission Development Cooperation Instrument, (b) the European Development Fund and (c) ECHO after the UK has left the EU.

Rory Stewart: Leaving the EU means we will want to take our own decisions about how to deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding. Over the coming months we will consult closely with stakeholders to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best help the world’s poorest and deliver value for money for UK taxpayers.

Developing Countries: Malaria

Nadhim Zahawi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of its January 2016 pledge to spend up to £500 million a year on tackling malaria.

James Wharton: UK support contributed to a halving of global malaria death rates since 2000. DFID continues to be a global leader in malaria control. UK aid is saving lives around the world, including through our support to the Global Fund (our replenishment commitment will fund 40 million bednets), UNITAID (to increase access to new diagnostics and medicines), research to accelerate the development of drugs, diagnostics and insecticides, and helping countries scale up their own national malaria control programmes.

Department for International Development: Labour Mobility

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many civil servants in each unit of her Department are in the redeployment pool.

Rory Stewart: My Department does have a redeployment pool at present. Staff are placed in redeployment as they are in a formal redundancy consultation process. The current number in this group is three.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that nutrition is prioritised on the UK's G7 agenda.

James Wharton: The UK has communicated its support for Italy’s plans to host a nutrition event in 2017 as part of its G7 Presidency.

Developing Countries: Malnutrition

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle under-nutrition in infants and young children in high-burden countries.

James Wharton: The Government has committed to improve the nutrition of 50 million people in developing countries by 2020. We will particularly focus on preventing and treating undernutrition among infants and young children. We will also equip governments in the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement to sustain improvements in the nutrition of children in their own countries.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the impact of UK Government nutrition investments and programmes in low and middle-income countries.

James Wharton: DFID monitors all its nutrition programmes in low and middle income countries on an annual basis. For example, DFID’s programme in northern Nigeria aims to reduce stunting and wasting by at least 4% over 7 years and includes investment with partners to monitor impact. DFID is also building the capacity of governments to collect and use nutrition data effectively. DFID supports the Global Nutrition Report which tracks progress to reduce undernutrition globally.

Yemen: Overseas Aid

Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to improve access for aid organisations to deliver humanitarian assistance to affected areas in Yemen.

Rory Stewart: We continue to urge all parties to the conflict to take all reasonable steps to facilitate rapid and safe humanitarian access. DFID is supporting the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN Humanitarian Air Service to improve access for vital commercial imports of food and for humanitarian aid.

Syria: International Assistance

Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the UN's delivery of aid to affected areas of Syria.

Rory Stewart: The UK is at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis. We have committed £2.3 billion, of which £436 million supports UN agencies delivering aid inside Syria. We are using all our diplomatic tools to press the Syrian regime and its backers to allow the UN immediate and unhindered access to all those in need across Syria. As part of this, the UK co-sponsored and lobbied hard to secure UN Security Council Resolutions 2165, 2191, 2258 and 2332 which enable the UN and its partners to deliver aid across borders into Syria without the consent of the Syrian regime. Between July 2014 and December 2016, 467 aid convoys had reached people in dire need through these routes.

Foreign Aid

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on their progress towards spending 0.7 per cent of their gross national income on overseas aid.

James Wharton: The Secretary of State regularly speaks with international partners, the private sector and others to stress the importance of global efforts to eradicate poverty, including calling for increased funding to a range of development and humanitarian priorities.

Department for International Development: Public Expenditure

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what each item of expenditure over £5 million was that was authorised by Ministers of her Department in each of the last six months.

Rory Stewart: The Department for International Development has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Development: Public Expenditure

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what transfers were made from her Department's budget to other government departments in the last 18 months.

Rory Stewart: Transfers between Department for International Development and Other Government Departments are set out in the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates.

Department for International Development: Departmental Expenditure Limits

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her Department's (a) resource DEL and (b) capital DEL (i) budget and (ii) outturn was in each of the last 12 months.

Rory Stewart: Information on the Department’s monthly spending is included in the HM Treasury publication ‘OSCAR in-year data release’. The most recent publication includes data up to September 2016, and is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oscar-publishing-data-from-the-database-december-2016 In addition, annual information is included in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-16

Department for Education

Apprentices

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2016 to Question 52226, how her Department ensures that apprenticeship standards are not being proposed for low-skilled jobs with limited carer progression.

Robert Halfon: Employers know the skills they need better than anyone else, which is why they are developing the new apprenticeship standards. These are short and concise documents describing the skills, knowledge and behaviours an apprentice needs to be competent in a defined occupation.Before being approved for development, employers have to demonstrate that all new proposed apprenticeships will meet a high quality bar and would enable the apprentice to undertake the role in a business of any size. Over the past year 60% of new apprenticeship proposals have been rejected as a result of them not meeting these key quality criteria, ensuring that only high quality, skilled apprenticeships are being developed.The Institute for Apprenticeships will have a key role to play in maintaining the overall quality of the apprenticeships system. As an employer-led body, this will ensure the broad range of industry needs are represented and employers themselves continue to drive the work to define, develop and deliver what makes a quality apprenticeship.

Digital Technology: Training

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to consult on the new entitlement to free digital skills training to be introduced in the Digital Economy Bill.

Robert Halfon: This Government recognises the increasing importance of basic digital skills to get on in life and in work and is committed to making publicly-funded basic digital skills training free to all adults who need it. The timetable for consulting on the new offer has not yet been set and will be announced in due course.

Teachers: Pensions

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons ill-health retirement pensions for teachers do not allow recipients to supplement their income by seeking work as private tutors.

Nick Gibb: Ill-health retirement pensions from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme are paid to members who are no longer able to teach due to illness or injury. Generally, these types of pensions are stopped only where there is evidence that a member no longer meets the eligibility requirements, for example because their health has improved. Work as a private tutor would not lead to automatic cessation of the pension, but because it is akin to teaching, may lead to a review of continued entitlement. Such reviews take account of the individual circumstances of the member, but ensure that only those who continue to meet the ill-health criteria receive pensions, which carry a high cost to the scheme.

Pre-school Education

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of recruitment and retention in early years education; and if she will make a statement.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will conduct a formal review of progression and professional development in early years education.

Caroline Dinenage: As a Government we want to continue to attract and retain good quality staff to deliver good quality early years provision, and are developing a workforce strategy to help employers to do this. The strategy has been informed by engagement with stakeholders and consideration of data and evidence on the early years workforce. We therefore do not intend to conduct any further review of progression and professional development. The strategy will focus on removing the barriers that employers face in attracting, retaining and developing staff, so that new and existing staff can achieve their potential and forge a successful career in early years. The workforce strategy will set out in more detail the policies the department proposes to implement to address these barriers. This will include areas such as career progression and professional development.

Children: Communication Skills

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve early language development.

Caroline Dinenage: Communication and language development forms one of the three prime areas for learning and development in the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework.It involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment in order to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves, and to speak and listen in a range of situations. Parents have an essential role to play in their child’s development and we recognise that some parents may need support in knowing how to help their children. The ‘What to expect, when? A parents’ guide’ illustrates various activities that parents can use to help their children’s language development from birth to five-years old. This can be found at:http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/2015/03/what-to-expect-when-a-parents-guide/ The Early Yeas Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) results show year on year improvements in children’s level of development at the end of the reception year. It is expected that by the end of reception children will be able to express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs. In 2016, the EYFSP results showed that in speaking 85.1% of the children reached the expected level of development. This compares with 78% in 2013.

Pre-school Education

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of qualified early years teachers on pre-school children meeting the expected standards of early development at age five.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will conduct a formal review of the effectiveness of having qualified early years teachers in early years settings on children's attainment at early years foundation stage.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government is developing an early years workforce strategy that will set out what we will do to support employers to attract, retain and develop high quality staff. As part of the strategy, we are considering how we can support growth of the specialist graduate workforce as evidence suggests they have a positive impact on the quality of early years provision. Ofsted evidence from 2015 clearly shows that settings that employ more highly qualified staff are more likely to obtain a good or outstanding rating from Ofsted. In 2014, research led by Ms Sandra Mathers for the Nuffield Foundation looked at provision for disadvantaged three and four year olds and showed that where settings employ specially trained graduates, quality is higher and that the quality gap between settings in disadvantaged and more affluent areas is narrower.To set the direction and identify priorities for our early years workforce strategy, we are considering a range of evidence, including that from stakeholders and colleagues. We are factoring this evidence in to our thinking on this strategy

Education

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the Education Bill.

Nick Gibb: The Government’s legislative reforms are set out annually in the Queen’s speech.The Government recently publish a consultation document, ‘Schools that work for everyone’, setting out a number of policy proposals. The consultation closed on 12 December 2016. The Department is now considering the submissions received and expects to publish its response in the spring.

School Standards and Framework Act 1998

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answers of 14 December 2016 to Question 56128 and of 23 December 2016 to Question 58051, whether she will issue guidance for schools and teachers on how the provisions in section 60 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 that allow the employment of all teachers in voluntary aided schools to be reserved teachers can be interpreted reasonably and proportionately to comply with the EU Employment Equality Directive Article 4(2).

Nick Gibb: The Government does not consider the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to be in contravention of the EU Employment Equality Directive Article 4(2). The ‘Guidance on Managing Staff Employment in Schools’ (2009) clarifies the position with regard to the employment of reserved teachers in voluntary aided schools.

Children: Day Care

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children eligible for the 30 hours free childcare or education offer are in receipt of the offer in London.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government’s 30 hours’ childcare entitlement goes live from September 2017, so data on take-up is not yet available. However, in the London borough of Newham some children are already receiving a 30 hours place as part of our early implementation programme, which is testing innovative ways of delivering 30 hours and sharing good practice to support national roll-out starting in September.

Apprentices: Taxation

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of all local authority-run schools having to pay the apprenticeship levy on the quality of education provision in such schools.

Robert Halfon: The local authority will typically be responsible for paying the levy for community and voluntary controlled schools where the local authority employs the staff. As the employer, the local authority is responsible for calculating and paying any levy liability due. The government is confident that local authorities will want schools, where they contribute to paying the local authority’s levy liability, to make the most of their levy funds and so we expect them to encourage schools and other entities within the local authority to make use of the levy funds by taking on apprentices.

Department for Education: Re-employment

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many members of staff who ceased to be employed by her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in the last three years have subsequently been re-employed by her Department on a temporary basis or as a third-party contractor or consultant.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department does not hold this information.

Department for Education: Labour Mobility

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many civil servants in each unit of her Department are in the redeployment pool.

Caroline Dinenage: There are no civil servants in the redeployment pool.

Primary Education: Admissions

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce plans for primary school on-entry assessment in  2017; and if the assessment will give the different stages of brain development experienced by boys and girls during early years.

Nick Gibb: The Secretary of State’s written ministerial statement to Parliament of 19 October set out that, while we intend to consult on the best starting point to measure the progress that children make at primary school, no new types of statutory assessment will be introduced in primary schools prior to the 2018-2019 academic year. We have also confirmed that the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile will remain in place for the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic years.

Schools: Birmingham

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to preserve the anonymity of witnesses who provided evidence to the Clarke inquiry into Birmingham schools.

Caroline Dinenage: We take the issue of witness anonymity extremely seriously.The independent panel overseeing the teacher misconduct case of some of the individuals involved in the events related to Trojan Horse recently ordered the full disclosure of transcripts of interviews given to Peter Clarke. As a result of the independent panel’s direction, lawyers acting on behalf of NCTL wrote to witnesses to inform them of that decision, and stated that in the event that they had any comments or concerns in relation to the disclosure of their transcripts they should contact them. Since the direction, where we have written to witnesses and we have either not yet heard back from them or they have raised concerns, no disclosures have been made. We have informed the independent panel that a number of witnesses have raised concerns, and the panel has indicated that it wishes to consider the issue at a further hearing.These issues are part of a set of complex legal proceedings and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.

Children's Centres: Greater London

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start centres have closed in London in each of the last six years; and in which boroughs those centres were located.

Caroline Dinenage: As at 31 December 2016 there were 3,251 main children’s centres and sites open to families and children providing children's centre services as part of a network. Children’s centre records are maintained by local authorities and are made publicly available via the Department’s EduBase portal at: http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/home.xhtmlBased on the information supplied by local authorities, 107 children’s centres closed in London in the six years between 2011 and 2016. A breakdown by year and local authority is given in the table below:Year Number of children’s centres closedBreakdown by local authority2011 11Barnet (3), Camden, (2), Hackney (1), Hammersmith and Fulham (3), Haringey (2)2012 9Bromley (7), Croydon (1), Lambeth (1)2013 23Bromley (5), Camden (1), Croydon (3), Enfield (1), Havering (7), Lewisham (1), Richmond (1), Southwark (1), Wandsworth (3)2014 13Barking & Dagenham (6), Barnet (1), Croydon (1), Lewisham (1), Newham (1), Tower Hamlets (3)2015 39[1]Barnet (1), Bexley (5), Camden (9), Enfield (1), Harrow (5), Lambeth (3), Lewisham (11), Newham (4)2016 12[2]Hounslow (8), Newham (2), Wandsworth (2)Total 107  [1] Two of the five children’s centres reported as closed by the London Borough of Bexley in 2015 reopened in 2016 and are currently listed as open on Edubase.[2] The total number of closures in 2016 is based on data supplied to Edubase by local authorities as at 10 January 2017; and local authorities could report additional closures in 2016.

Sex and Relationship Education

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary school children attend a school where sex education is taught.

Edward Timpson: We do not collect data on the curriculum provision of individual schools, including the provision of sex education. Sex education is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools, and primary maintained schools and academies are encouraged to teach it as an important part of delivering a balanced curriculum.

Schools: Radicalism

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons a decision was taken to reveal the identities of whistleblowers in the Trojan Horse case in Birmingham; and what assessment her Department has made of the effect on the safety of those individuals and their families of that decision.

Caroline Dinenage: We take the issue of witness anonymity extremely seriously.The independent panel overseeing the teacher misconduct case of some of the individuals involved in the events related to Trojan Horse recently ordered the full disclosure of transcripts of interviews given to Peter Clarke. As a result of the independent panel’s direction, lawyers acting on behalf of NCTL wrote to witnesses to inform them of that decision, and stated that in the event that they had any comments or concerns in relation to the disclosure of their transcripts they should contact them. Since the direction, where we have written to witnesses and we have either not yet heard back from them or they have raised concerns, no disclosures have been made. We have informed the independent panel that a number of witnesses have raised concerns, and the panel has indicated that it wishes to consider the issue at a further hearing.These issues are part of a set of complex legal proceedings and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children not achieving a good level of development according to the Early Years Foundation State were attending a private or voluntary sector provider in the latest year for which data is available.

Caroline Dinenage: In 2016, 69.3% of children achieved a good level of development as defined by the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework. Of the 30.7% of children who did not achieve a good level of development in 2016, 1.5% (3089 children) attended a PVI setting. The data to determine the number and proportion of children attending private and voluntary settings only is not readily available, and could only be compiled at a disproportionate cost. The Profile is an assessment based on a teacher’s observations of each child in their reception year, and is designed to ensure that parents and Year 1 teachers are informed about their learning and development attainment. The Profile is not intended to hold providers to account.

Nurseries

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding from the transitional protection for maintained nursery schools will each local authority area receive in each year for which that funding is available.

Caroline Dinenage: Supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools, worth £55m a year, will be provided to local authorities at least until the end of this Parliament. This will enable them to maintain the current levels of funding for these schools, which play an important role in the social mobility of the children and families that they serve. Indicative Early Years National Funding Formula allocations for local authorities for 2017-18 can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-national-funding-formula-allocations-and-guidance To ensure that local authorities receive the correct funding for their nursery schools, we will be undertaking a data assurance exercise to verify current expenditure levels in those authorities with maintained nursery schools. Once this has been completed, we will update allocations for individual local authorities in early summer.

Archaeology: GCE A-level

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with (a) AQA and (b) other examination boards on ensuring the continuance of A-level archaeology on the curriculum.

Nick Gibb: Officials at the Department held a range of discussions with the A level exam boards on this issue as soon as AQA made clear that it did not intend to continue developing a new A level in archaeology. However, it is for individual examination boards to decide which qualifications to offer and we regret that no board has come forward that is willing to develop a new A level in archaeology for teaching from 2017. However, the option for an exam board to develop qualifications in this subject in future will remain open.

Public Bodies: Equality

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will commence the socio-economic duty on public bodies contained within section 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government is considering the future of the un-commenced provisions in the Equality Act.

Personal Income: Females

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what women's median income as a percentage of men's was from all sources including pay, pensions, benefits and tax credits for each year from 2010 to 2016.

Caroline Dinenage: We are not able to provide the information requested. However, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) publishes the UK gender pay gap figures annually. This measure includes all basic pay before deductions for PAYE, National Insurance, pension schemes, student loan repayments and voluntary deductions, but does not include benefits or tax credits:YearOverall GPG201019.8%201120.2%201219.6%201319.8%201419.2%201519.3%201618.1% To close the gender pay gap, the Government is introducing mandatory reporting for large employers in Great Britain from April 2017.

Scotland Office

Agriculture: Scotland

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for the Scottish agricultural sector.

David Mundell: I meet regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss a wide range of matters. Just last month, I met with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to discuss a number of issues relating to the Scottish Agricultural Sector.

EU Grants and Loans: Scotland

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Scotland's allocation of (a) the European Social Fund and (b) the European Regional Development Fund since the UK's decision to leave the EU.

David Mundell: I have regular discussions with my Cabinet colleagues, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on a wide range of economic matters. The Chancellor has announced that HM Treasury will put in place arrangements to guarantee funding for structural and investment fund projects that were signed after the Autumn Statement 2016 up until the UK leaves the EU.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

21st Century Fox: Sky

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to notify hon. Members in the event that 21st Century Fox gives to her formal notification of its takeover bid for Sky.

Matt Hancock: I refer the Hon Gentleman to the written statement made by my Right Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State on 10 January 2018, Vol 619 Col 8WS.

Digital Technology: Eastbourne

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support and further develop tech and digital industries in coastal areas such as Eastbourne.

Matt Hancock: The government is committed to ensuring that the UK has a thriving digital economy throughout the country, including coastal towns such as Eastbourne.

World Tourism Organisation

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons the Government has not joined the World Tourism Organisation.

Tracey Crouch: Our international standing is highly important - not only to inbound tourism but in wider trade terms. Currently the UK government is not considering membership of the World Tourism Organisation but it is an organisation we remain in contact with to ensure the UK is participating fully in international tourism discussions.

21st Century Fox: Sky

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her Written Statement of 10 January 2017, what steps she plans to take to invite public representations to her Department on public interest considerations as set out in the Enterprise Act 2002 on the proposed merger of 21st Century Fox and Sky.

Matt Hancock: I refer the Hon Member to the written statement made by my Right Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State on 1.0 January 2018, Vol 619 Col 8WS.

Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures Review

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many responses her Department received to the call for evidence on the Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures.

Tracey Crouch: The Call for Evidence on the Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility received 275 responses.

Department for Work and Pensions

Unemployment

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been out of work who were blind or deaf in each calendar year from 2010 in (a) Sunderland City Council borough, (b) each English region and (c) England.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been out of work who had a skin condition or epilepsy in each calendar year from 2010 in (a) Sunderland City Council borough, (b) each English region and (c) England.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people living with musculoskeletal conditions have been out of work in (a) Sunderland City Council borough, (b) each English region and (c) England in each year since 2010.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have a blood or circulation condition have been out of work in (a) Sunderland City Council borough, (b) each English region and (c) England in each year since 2010.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have (a) Type 1 and (b) Type 2 diabetes have been out of work in (a) Sunderland City Council borough, (b) each English region and (c) England in each year since 2010.

Penny Mordaunt: The tables attached provide estimates on the number of out of work people of working age in the local authority of Sunderland, each English region and England who reported having one of the following specific long term health conditions (as either their main or secondary health condition): Table 1: Difficulty in seeing or hearingTable 2: Conditions related to skin or epilepsyTable 3: Musculoskeletal conditionsTable 4: Heart, blood pressure or blood circulation problemsTable 5: Diabetes Not all data is available by the exact health conditions requested. Where data on the blind and deaf has been requested, data on those who report having difficulty in seeing or hearing has been provided. In addition, data is also not available for those with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, therefore only information for individuals who report they have any type of diabetes has been provided. Data has been provided for each financial year between 2010/11 to 2015/16.A change in how the survey questionnaire captures information on long term health conditions was made in April-June 2013. This change led to a break in the series and in order to provide data for complete years it has been presented in financial years, not calendar years. This series break also means that data for 2013/14 onwards cannot be compared with previous years. Data is not available for 2009/10 and has therefore not been provided. The estimates provided are based on survey data and are therefore subject to sampling variation and bias, this means that some changes over time can appear volatile and should be treated with caution. Please see the full list of caveats below the tables for further methodological information on how this data was calculated and how these figures should be interpreted appropriately.



Tables for PQ's 58890, 58891, 58892, 58893, 58894
(Excel SpreadSheet, 16.12 KB)

National Insurance Contributions: British Nationals Abroad

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that working and benefits provision is in place in the event that expats living abroad must return to the UK after the UK leaves the EU (a) in general and (b) for those expats who may not have made national insurance contributions in recent years.

Damian Hinds: The Prime Minister has made clear that she wants to protect the rights of British citizens currently living in European member states, in the same way that we want to protect the status of EU nationals already living here. The reciprocal rights and entitlements that will apply following the UK’s exit are subject to the wider negotiation on our future relationship with the EU. At every step of this negotiation the Government will seek to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people, at home and overseas.

Occupational Pensions

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the uptake of workplace pensions since that scheme's inception.

Richard Harrington: So far over 7 million people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension and more than 370,000 employers have declared their compliance. We anticipate that around 10 million people will be saving or saving more as a result of automatic enrolment by 2018, generating an estimated £17 billion extra pension savings per year by 2019/20. 9 out of 10 workers are choosing to remain in their workplace pension scheme after being automatically enrolled.

Self-employed: Fraud

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of false self-employment on benefit entitlements.

Damian Hinds: We do not make an assessment of the overall effect of ‘false self-employment’ on welfare benefit entitlements. RSA Chief Executive Matthew Taylor is currently leading an independent review which will consider employment practices in the modern economy. Universal Credit simplifies the benefits system by bringing together a range of working age benefits, providing support for both claimants who are not working and those who are working, whether employed or self-employed. UC claimants are required to provide evidence of their self-employment as a condition of receiving benefits.

Self-employed: Bolton North East

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who are certified as self-employed in Bolton North East constituency are in receipt of in-work benefits.

Damian Hinds: The information requested on Universal Credit is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, there was an average of 1,700 self-employed households in receipt of tax credits in Bolton North East during 2014-15.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to put in place greater interim and transitional funding for claimants (a) during and (b) after personal independence payment appeals.

Penny Mordaunt: There is currently interim support available during the appeals period. For those who were members of the Motability scheme under DLA, Motability pays for a £175 million package of transitional support which normally includes a £2,000 cash lump sum. Individuals could use this payment to support their mobility needs during this time. The Government is always exploring new ways to support disabled people, including those making PIP appeals. There have been no decisions at this time.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to make payments for (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance.

Penny Mordaunt: We regularly review the way in which we process personal independence payments (PIP) and employment and support allowance (ESA) to ensure claimants are paid at the earliest opportunity. PIP has an on-going continuous improvement plan in place. Identifying opportunities for claimants to provide the ‘right’ evidence at the ‘right’ time, enhancing the quality of the decision making process. Where the claimant has not provided all the information required to determine their award we proactively seek this information from them or a third party. Once an award for ESA has been made we select the quickest method of payment available to ensure that any payment due is paid to the claimant as quickly as possible. For the majority of new claimants to PIP they will be paid any arrears of benefit within a few days of the decision being made.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2016 to Question 50587, on state retirement pensions, by what means overseas claimants are audited.

Richard Harrington: The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) operates a proof of life programme (referred to as a Life Certificate) where State Pension customers residing permanently outside the United Kingdom are required to provide independent evidence, in the form of a witness statement, confirming that they are alive. The Life Certificate also provides verification of a customer’s address and contact telephone number and forms an integral part of DWP’s strategy to reduce fraud and error by ensuring that State Pension is paid to the right person at the right time. In addition to the Life Certificate, DWP has agreements in place with some countries to exchange data when a customer is deceased.

Personal Independence Payment: Older People

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of disability living allowance have undertaken a reassessment for personal independence payments when over the age of 65 since April 2013.

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of disability living allowance who were reassessed for personal independence payments when over the age of 65 have had their claim disallowed since April 2013.

Penny Mordaunt: The available data on clearances of claims by type (i.e. awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), by a range of breakdowns including whether they were new claimants or Disability Living Allowance to PIP reassessment claimants, is available from Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html

Department for Work and Pensions: Labour Mobility

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many civil servants in each unit of his Department are in the redeployment pool.

Caroline Nokes: DWP does not operate a redeployment pool. Employees whose role is no longer required are managed within their business area and will continue to do meaningful work for the Department. When a new permanent role becomes available, these members of staff will be given priority. Of our 83,332 employees, 23 are currently in this temporary position.

Department for Work and Pensions: Re-employment

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many members of staff who ceased to be employed by his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in the last three years have subsequently been re-employed by his Department on a temporary basis or as a third-party contractor or consultant.

Caroline Nokes: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Unemployment

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of trends in unemployment since June 2016.

Damian Hinds: The ILO unemployment rate was 4.9 per cent in the three months to June 2016 and 4.8 per cent in the three months to September 2016.

Working Conditions: Temperature

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the level of compliance by businesses with the maximum and minimum temperature guidelines for temperature in the workplace set out in the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992: Approved Code of Practice and guidelines, published in 2013.

Penny Mordaunt: No recent assessment has been made. However Health and Safety Executive and Local Authority inspectors ensure businesses comply with health and safety law, including guidelines for temperatures in the Approved Code of Practice, and will take action where they find evidence of risks not being properly controlled.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are participating in the Work Choice programme; and how many of those participants are claiming (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) employment and support allowance and are in the work-related activity group, and (c) employment and support allowance and are in the support group.

Penny Mordaunt: Published Official Statistics showing number of starts to Work Choice by benefit claimed at referral can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/work-choice-statistics-number-of-starts-and-referrals--2These statistics show that in the 12 months to September 2016 there were 11,450 starts to Work Choice of which 6,100 were on jobseeker’s allowance and 2,100 were on incapacity related benefits (employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance). The additional breakdown by ESA phase is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the (a) average and (b) longest time between a claimant receiving a letter denying a claim for personal independence payment and the completion of a tribunal appeal hearing relating to that claim.

Penny Mordaunt: The latest published information shows that the average clearance time for all benefit appeals is 16 weeks. The Information in relation to the Mandatory Reconsideration part of the dispute process is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Rents: Arrears

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet representatives from the registered social landlords sector to discuss the potential effect of the introduction of universal credit on levels of rent arrears.

Damian Hinds: Ministers and senior leaders in the Universal Credit Programme meet regularly with representatives from the registered social landlords sector to discuss all issues related to Universal Credit. The Universal Credit Strategic Landlord Group meets quarterly and is made up of a representative group of social landlords and their trade bodies from England, Scotland and Wales. This group examines a range of issues including rent arrears and actively works with landlords to inform both current and future design – specific examples include the design of a landlord portal and of the Trusted Partner Pilot.

Ministry of Defence

Middle East: Military Intervention

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the objectives set for the armed forces operating in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria include the identification of UK nationals involved in conflicts in those countries.

Mike Penning: The UK supports Counter-Daesh Coalition operations in Iraq and Syria with Royal Air Force aircraft (carrying out airstrikes and providing other key airborne capabilities) and by providing training to Iraqi security forces (including to the Kurdish Peshmerga).Neither activity brings UK personnel into immediate contact with Daesh fighters but any information gained on UK nationals involved in conflicts in the two countries would be shared with the appropriate UK authorities.

Libya: Military Aid

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether training and assistance provided by the Government to non-governmental forces in Libya is subject to an agreement with the Libyan Government of National Accord.

Mike Penning: Any support that we offer to any forces in Libya will be predicated on an agreement with the Government of National Accord.

Libya: Military Aid

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the armed forces provide training and assistance to forces operating in Libya which are (a) allied with the Libyan Government of National Accord and (b) other Libyan-based forces.

Mike Penning: We are working closely with the UN and Libya's Government of National Accord in order to assist them in their efforts to deliver security for the people of Libya. Part of this ongoing support has included the provision of UK military advisers and RAF flights to transport them, as well as visits to Libya by UK military personnel based in the British Embassy and the UN Support Mission in Tunis. Additionally, the UK provided a military training team to the first phase of the EU's training for the Libyan Coastguard, although this took place in international waters.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department is providing to anti-Assad forces in and around Idlib.

Mike Penning: Defence has provided support to Syrian Opposition Forces, both through support with equipment to save lives and political support. We have delivered over £4 million of life-saving equipment including communications, medical and logistics equipment. We have provided equipment to protect against chemical weapons attacks - including 5,000 escape hoods, nerve agent pre-treatment tablets and chemical weapon detector papers.

Air Space

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30, entitled UK Air Space Doctrine, will cover the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Mike Penning: The next edition of Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30 UK Air and Space Doctrine will refer to the employment of unmanned and remotely piloted aircraft systems but will not discuss specific systems. Greater detail will be contained in Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30.2 The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

Air Space

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on finalising the Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30, entitled UK Air Space Doctrine.

Mike Penning: Following extensive consultation across Defence and the academic community, and having drawn on similar work from sources such as NATO and the United States Air Force, the next edition of Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30 Air and Space Doctrine remains on track for publication in 2017.

Navy: Task Forces

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has for the proposed composition of the Carrier Strike Group; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Maritime Task Group will be tailored for each task. While the precise number and mix of vessels deployed would be dictated by the prevailing operational circumstances, we could draw from a range of modern and highly capable vessels including the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, with embarked F-35B Lightning II and helicopters, surface combatants, submarines and logistic support shipping.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Written Answer of 26 September 2016, HL 1779, whether Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30.2, entitled The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems, will address the conclusions and recommendations of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Second Report of Session 2015-16, the Government's policy on the use of drones for targeted killing, HC 574, published on 10 May 2016.

Mike Penning: In the Government's response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights 4th Report The Government's policy on the use of drones for targeted killing, the Secretary of State for Defence made clear during his evidence session, the Government does not have a 'policy on targeted killing'. Rather it has a policy to defend the UK and its citizens against threats to their security.The Government takes the view that the existing legal frameworks, including both applicable international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) are adequate to govern the use of Remotely Piloted Air Systems and, therefore, that there is no need to develop a special regime for the use of these weapons.All doctrine produced by the Ministry of Defence's Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre is subject to legal review. The current draft of JDP 0-30.2 is no exception and it is compliant with the UK's legal and policy framework that regulates the use of unmanned and remotely piloted aircraft systems.

Burma: Military Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2017 to Question 58251, whether the £236,668 spent on training the Burmese Army was funded through the ODA budget.

Mike Penning: The figure of £235,668 provided in my answer of 9 January 2017 for total expenditure spent on providing educational training to the Burmese Army as at 21 December was given in error. The correct figure is £305,499.00; the original answer failed to include the costs of a single Defence Academy course delivered during the period. Of the total spend of £305,499 approximately 67% was ODA expenditure

Frigates: Procurement

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on the procurement of type 31E general purpose frigates; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Ministry of Defence continues to progress the Type 31e General Purpose Frigate requirement. The programme is in its pre-concept phase.This work is considering the capability the ships will need based on their role, operating environment and the threats they will need to counter.

Home Office

Home Office: Travel

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on travel that was not standard class in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 22 December 2016.The correct answer should have been:

Total spend on travel that was not standard class (£m, rounded) is set out in the table below (this includes Eurostar Standard Premier):  2011-2012: 0.9 900,0002012-2013: 0.7 700,0002013-2014: 1.1 1,100,0002014-2015: 0.9 900,0002015-2016: 0.6 600,000

Sarah Newton: Total spend on travel that was not standard class (£m, rounded) is set out in the table below (this includes Eurostar Standard Premier):  2011-2012: 0.9 900,0002012-2013: 0.7 700,0002013-2014: 1.1 1,100,0002014-2015: 0.9 900,0002015-2016: 0.6 600,000

Emergency Services: Orkney and Shetland

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many emergency services network masts will be built in Orkney and Shetland constituency; and what steps she is taking to ensure that mobile phone services are provided from all four mobile network operators at all such sites.

Brandon Lewis: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 09 January 2017.The correct answer should have been:

In delivering the Emergency Services Network (ESN), the mobile network operator EE will deliver up to 291 new mast sites. Government will deliver approximately 230 further sites (known as the “Extended Area Services” (EAS) sites) in the most remote and rural areas of Great Britain.For EAS sites, the principal objective is to provide coverage to meet the needs of the emergency services, but the Home Office is working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and DCMS to identify any proposed mast locations which could improve mobile coverage in future, with a view to ensuring these are built to a specification which could accommodate multiple operators.EE has indicated that it is delivering around 200 new sites in Scotland as part of ESN. In addition there are 104 sites in Scotland that are being considered as part of the Extended Area Services (EAS). Delivery of these sites is subject to planning permission and the acquisition of land. There are currently no new sites proposed in the constituency of Inverclyde, either by EE or the EAS as part of ESN. There are currently up to 25 new EE ESN sites proposed in the constituency of Orkney and Shetland, and one EAS site as part of ESN.

Brandon Lewis: In delivering the Emergency Services Network (ESN), the mobile network operator EE will deliver up to 291 new mast sites. Government will deliver approximately 230 further sites (known as the “Extended Area Services” (EAS) sites) in the most remote and rural areas of Great Britain.For EAS sites, the principal objective is to provide coverage to meet the needs of the emergency services, but the Home Office is working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and DCMS to identify any proposed mast locations which could improve mobile coverage in future, with a view to ensuring these are built to a specification which could accommodate multiple operators.EE has indicated that it is delivering around 200 new sites in Scotland as part of ESN. In addition there are 104 sites in Scotland that are being considered as part of the Extended Area Services (EAS). Delivery of these sites is subject to planning permission and the acquisition of land. There are currently no new sites proposed in the constituency of Inverclyde, either by EE or the EAS as part of ESN. There are currently up to 25 new EE ESN sites proposed in the constituency of Orkney and Shetland, and one EAS site as part of ESN.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service: Finance

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service received by grant from central government in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: The table below sets out core central government funding for the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority since 2010-11.These figures do not include specific central government grants such as pension top-ups and National Resilience Assurance.Merseyside  2010-112011-122012-13Core funding £m26.44122.75918.729In 2013-14 a major change was introduced in local government finance that meant that local authorities (including Fire and Rescue Authorities) were now able to retain a share of their local business rates. This reduced the level of requirement from central government funding.Merseyside 2013-142014-152015-162016-17Core funding £m26.44122.75918.72916.522

Higher Education: Finance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2016 to Question 54580, what specific proposals are being considered to strengthen the system to support the best universities to attract the best talent; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We will be shortly be seeking views on how we can support the sector to continue to attract the brightest and best.

Immigration

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she took to consult stakeholder bodies and the public on developing a sustainable approach to immigration.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is committed to an immigration policy that works in the interests of the whole of the United Kingdom. We regularly meet and consult key stakeholders during policy development.

Asylum

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests were (a) made and (b) accepted for transfer of an asylum application from the UK to another country under (i) article 8, (ii) article 9, (iii) article 10 and (iv) article 17 of the Dublin III Regulation during the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests were (a) made and (b) accepted for transfer of an asylum application to the UK under (i) article 8, (ii) article 9, (iii) article 10 and (iv) article 17 of the Dublin III Regulation during the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests the Government made under the Dublin III Regulation for an asylum application to be transferred to another country; and how many of those requests were agreed to during the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests the Government made under the Dublin III Regulation for an asylum application to be transferred to another country; and how many of those requests were agreed to during the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill: At present we do not publish data on cases covered by the Dublin Regulation. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures, which you can find at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Dublin_statistics_on_countries_responsible_for_asylum_application

Asylum: Appeals

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refusals of an application for asylum resulted in the right of appeal being non-suspensive in each of the last three years; and in asylum cases where a right of appeal is non-suspensive, how many appeals were (a) submitted from outside the UK, (b) successful, (c) refused and (d) outstanding, in each of those years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office publish the number of main claimants refused asylum and eligible for the non-suspensive appeals process each quarter in table as_13_q of the quarterly Immigration Statistics release. The latest figures are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/572377/asylum3-q3-2016-tables.ods

Wales Office

Wales Office: Labour Mobility

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many civil servants in each unit of his Department are in the redeployment pool.

Guto Bebb: None.

HM Treasury

NHS: Wales

Hywel Williams: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Department of Health's departmental expenditure limit affects the level of the NHS in Wales' block grant allocation.

Mr David Gauke: The Barnett Formula is applied to changes in the Department of Health’s Departmental Expenditure Limit, which lead to changes to the overall block grant available to each devolved administration. It is for the devolved administrations to determine allocations to individual budgets within their devolved responsibilities.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2016 to Question 56889, what the timescale is for the text of the World Health Organisation Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products to be laid before Parliament as a Command Paper.

Jane Ellison: Subject to Parliamentary approval of the relevant provisions in Finance Billl 2017, the text of the World Health Organisation Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products will be laid before Parliament as a Command Paper with an Explanatory Memorandum. The current plans are to do this within 8 weeks of Royal Assent. Providing Parliament does not resolve against ratification the UK can then begin the formal ratification process.

Self-employed: Fraud

Sir David Crausby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to prevent false self-employment.

Jane Ellison: HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) Employment Status and Intermediaries Team focuses on employment status and employment intermediary risks. Where companies are believed to have misclassified individuals as self-employed, HMRC establishes the facts of the case and will take steps to ensure that all the appropriate tax, National Insurance contributions, interest and penalties are paid.In addition, the Government announced at Autumn Statement 2016 that, following consultation, it would reforms the intermediaries legislation (commonly known as IR35) to improve the compliance of those working off-payroll through Personal Service Companies in the public sector.

Self-employed: Fraud

Sir David Crausby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of lost (a) income tax and (b) national insurance contributions revenue to the Exchequer as a result of false self-employment.

Jane Ellison: The House of Commons Library published a briefing paper, Self-employment in the construction industry on 23 May 2016. The paper identifies that employment intermediaries facilitating false self-employment is the main source of bogus self-employment. HM Revenue and Customs estimated this had resulted in 200,000 people wrongly designated. It has not provided an estimate of the amount of tax and national insurance lost as a result of false self-employment.

Aggregates Levy: Fracking

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) people and (b) companies are being pursued by his Department for failing to collect aggregate levy tax as a consequence of certificates of exemption that have been retrospectively revoked after having been previously issued in respect of the extraction and mining of shale rock.

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the gross value is of uncollected aggregate levy tax outstanding as a consequence of retrospectively revoking certificates of exemption previously issued in respect of the extraction and mining of shale rock.

Jane Ellison: HM Revenue and Custom (HMRC) has collected approximately £9.2 million from 10 UK businesses in relation to exemptions from aggregates levy that the European Commission ruled were unlawful state aid. As the number of businesses with outstanding aggregates levy due is less than five, HMRC cannot provide statistics on the gross value of uncollected aggregate levy tax outstanding as this could lead to the identification of individual taxpayers.

Revenue and Customs: West Lothian

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is the Government's policy not to make any staff subject to compulsory redundancy as a result of the relocation of the HM Revenue and Customs office in West Lothian to the new regional centre by 2020.

Jane Ellison: All staff will be offered a one-to-one meeting about a year in advance of any office move. Where staff are not able to move, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will look at redeployment options, including in other government departments. Exit packages will only be considered when it is established that moving office or redeployment is not an option. Any decision by HMRC to move to compulsory redundancies will follow the rules set out in the Cabinet Office Protocols 2008 and Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

Working Tax Credit: Overpayments

Sir David Crausby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department overpaid in working tax credit claims in the last financial year; and what the estimated cost is of recovering those overpayments.

Jane Ellison: Figures for overpayments in Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits claims in 2014-15 can be found on page 8 of the Child and Working Tax Credits, Finalised Annual Awards, Supplement on Payments National Statistics, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525468/cwtc_awards_sup.pdf Due to the nature of Tax Credits payments it is not possible to divide overpayments between Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits. The equivalent information for 2015-16 will be published in May 2017. Recovering overpayments from those Tax Credit customers who continue to be in award is an automated process. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has teams to deal with cases where an overpayment is disputed or where a customer informs HMRC they are in hardship. Figures for the administrative costs for the specific aspects of this work that relate to recovering overpayments are not available.

Working Tax Credit

Sir David Crausby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the estimated amount of unclaimed entitlement to working tax credits was in the last financial year.

Jane Ellison: HM Revenue and Customs published Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit Take-up Rates 2014-15 on 14th December 2016, and is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-benefit-child-tax-credit-ctc-and-working-tax-credit-wtc-take-up-rates-2014-to-2015 Table 1a (page 14) provides information on the amount of tax credits unclaimed by those eligible for Working Tax Credit. Information for 2015-16 is not currently available.

Apprentices: Scotland

Hannah Bardell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the revenue to be raised from the Apprenticeship Levy from business in Scotland in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.

Jane Ellison: The apprenticeship levy will apply across the UK and will be collected from employers on a UK wide basis. The expected yield for the apprenticeship levy is published in table C.5: ‘Current Receipts’, in the Autumn Statement 2016 document available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571559/autumn_statement_2016_web.pdf

Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit: Overpayments

Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit claims have been overpaid in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; what the total value of such overpayments was; what the (i) smallest, (ii) average and (iii) largest such overpayment was; and how many such overpayments have been overturned.

Jane Ellison: Due to the nature of Tax Credits payments it is not possible to divide overpayments between Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits. Figures on the number of overpaid Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits claims in 2014-15 and the aggregate amount can be found on page 8 of the Child and Working Tax Credits, Finalised Annual Awards, Supplement on Payments National Statistics. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525468/cwtc_awards_sup.pdf The distribution by value of overpayments and underpayments is shown in table 3 of the same document. The figures for overpayments in 2014-15 are based on finalised award data. The vast majority of disputes regarding entitlement occur before the end of the finalisation process.

Tax Avoidance

Mr Charles Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether tax planning schemes entered into before 2 November 2004 are covered by the anti-avoidance measures conducted in the 2004 Finance Act.

Jane Ellison: The Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) regime was introduced by the Finance Act 2004. Depending on the exact nature of the tax avoidance arrangements, schemes made available or entered into after 17 March 2004 had to be disclosed. Schemes entered into before introduction of the DOTAS rules would not fall to be disclosable under that regime.

Self-Employed: Tax Avoidance

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made on implementing recent changes to legislation on IR35 with regard to intermediaries.

Jane Ellison: At Autumn Statement, the Government confirmed that reform of the off-payroll working rules in the public sector will be implemented on 6 April 2017. Draft legislation and a technical note which explains the changes was published on 5 December and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/off-payroll-working-in-the-public-sector-reform-of-the-intermediaries-legislation-technical-note/off-payroll-working-in-the-public-sector-reform-of-the-intermediaries-legislation-technical-note HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is currently consulting on the draft legislation. The consultation period closes on 1 February. HMRC is also working with stakeholders to develop and test the new digital employment status service, which will help customers apply the off-payroll rules, making them simpler to administer. HMRC expects to provide a full version of the service for April 2017, but customers may be able to access this earlier.

Retirement: Advisory Services

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made under the terms of the Financial Advice Market Review on improving the quality of advice being offered to people preparing for retirement.

Simon Kirby: UK consumers already benefit from a high quality financial advice market. The Retail Distribution Review Post Implementation Review found that the quality and independence of financial advice has improved significantly. It was found to have reduced conflicts of interest arising from commission payments and improved professionalism and competition. The problem is that this advice can sometimes be unaffordable. That is why the Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR) recommended a package of measures to make financial advice more affordable. The Government is making good progress in implementing its findings. As recommended by FAMR, the Government consulted on introducing a Pensions Advice Allowance, which will allow people to withdraw £500 tax free from their pension pot early, to pay for retirement advice. The Government will respond to the consultation shortly. A £500 tax exemption for employer arranged pensions advice will also be available from April 2017.

Public Expenditure: Wales

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 October 2016 to Question 46769, on Public Expenditure: Wales, whether that matched funding will be paid via the Barnett formula.

Mr David Gauke: I set out the nature of the guarantees which the UK Government has committed to in my answer of 7 October 2016. The Barnett formula has never had any role with regard to the determination of EU funding. As such, the Barnett formula has no role in determining the levels of funding which we have committed to covering through those guarantees.

EU Grants and Loans

Natalie McGarry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government's domestic strategic priorities are in relation to its guarantee for all European Structural and Investment Fund projects signed after the Autumn Statement 2016 and before the UK leaves the EU.

Mr David Gauke: The government has guaranteed all multi-year European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) projects which are signed ahead of the point at which the UK leaves the EU. Funding for projects will be guaranteed if the department responsible for managing the relevant ESIF programme is satisfied that projects provide strong value for money and are in line with their strategic priorities. Each government department will take responsibility for the allocation of money to projects in line with these conditions and the wider rules on public spending.

EU Grants and Loans

Natalie McGarry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to establish a programme of social and regional development funding to replace the European Structural and Investment Fund after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr David Gauke: The government has provided a guarantee for all European Structural and Investment Fund projects signed before the UK’s departure from the European Union. This includes projects that will continue beyond the UK’s departure from the European Union. The government has said that it will consult closely with stakeholders to review all EU funding schemes in the round, to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the UK‘s national interest, while ensuring appropriate investor certainty. The Government will continue to consider how best to support our regions following the UK’s departure from the European Union.

EU Grants and Loans

Natalie McGarry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the loss of European Structural and Investment Funds after the UK leaves the EU on (a) economic growth, (b) output, (c) productivity and (d) employment in (i) Glasgow, (ii) Scotland and (iii) the UK.

Mr David Gauke: Leaving the EU means we will want to take our own decisions about how to deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding.We will consult closely with stakeholders, including the Scottish Government, to review all EU funding schemes in the round, to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the UK‘s national interest.

Tax Avoidance

Mr Charles Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if HM Revenue and Customs will make it its policy not to use accelerated payment notices when court proceedings relating to a case remain open.

Mr Charles Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what provision there is for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to set aside an accelerated payment notice when the company subject to that notice is seeking a negotiated settlement with HMRC.

Mr Charles Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what mechanisms there are for companies to appeal the terms of accelerated payment notices issued by HM Revenue and Customs; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The accelerated payment regime was introduced in Finance Act 2014 to change the underlying economics of tax avoidance by requiring disputed tax to be paid upfront while an avoidance scheme is being challenged. Disputed tax remains due and payable under the accelerated payment regime until such time as the dispute is settled by agreement with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) or the dispute is litigated and there is a judicial decision. Where an accelerated payment has been made, it is repayable if HMRC agrees, or the courts decide, that the scheme in question does produce a tax advantage under the legislation. Taxpayers can make representations to HMRC about an accelerated payment notice if they believe the conditions for issue have not been met or the amount shown is incorrect. They can also ask the courts to judicially review the issue of an accelerated payment notice.

Concentrix

Stephen Doughty: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many outstanding appeals against decisions made by Concentrix on tax credits there were up to 16 January 2017.

Jane Ellison: HM Revenue and Customs has 237 outstanding appeals against decisions made by Concentrix up to 16 January 2017.

Minimum Wage: MITIE Group

Stephen Doughty: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what investigations (a) have been concluded and (b) remain ongoing for alleged non-payment of the minimum wage by Mitie Group companies in the last two years.

Jane Ellison: The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW or NLW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reviews all complaints that are referred to them. Additionally, HMRC collates and analyses data from various sources in order to identify those employers who are potentially more likely to be underpaying NMW or NLW so that they can undertake targeted enforcement against those employers. For reasons of confidentiality, HMRC does not divulge information relating to the affairs of an individual or company or confirm whether or not there is an ongoing enquiry. HMRC investigates all cases where it is believed an employer is not paying its workers the minimum wage to ensure those workers receive what they are owed under the law.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Educational Institutions: Conferences

John Mc Nally: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on further and higher education institutions' revenue from the hosting of EU conferences by such institutions.

Mr Robin Walker: We have been clear that we want to create an environment in which the UK as a whole can continue to be a world leader in research, science and the tertiary education sector more broadly.We are not going to provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of the negotiations, but we will work hard to get the best deal for Britain and its universities.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Labour Mobility

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many civil servants in each unit of his Department are in the redeployment pool.

Mr David Jones: As at the 11th January 2017 the Department for Exiting the European Union has no staff in the redeployment pool.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Public Expenditure

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has spent on (a) consultancy, (b) legal and (c) accountancy fees since it was created.

Mr David Jones: a) The Department for Exiting the European Union has used the services of a number of consultancy firms to support departmental set-up and planning. The cost to the public purse on each occasion was either nil, a nominal fee or at the same rate as a civil service salary.b) The Department has sought legal advice from the Government Legal Department and external organisations. We will not be providing a running commentary but costs associated with the ongoing Article 50 litigation will be published in due course.c) The Department has not incurred any accountancy fees to date.

Department for International Trade

UK Trade and Investment

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what value for money assessment his Department has made of the UKTI Events Alliance programme.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade assumed the responsibilities of UKTI in July 2016. A yearly client survey of businesses supported by DIT is undertaken by the International Trade and Investment team to measure quality of service and reported impact which includes the Events Alliance Programme. Latest figures available cover support provided in 2015-16: For those attending DIT-sponsored Events, on average, businesses anticipated additional export sales of £611,000 per business as a result of attending events organised with the support of the Department. Event satisfaction was 74% among businesses supported.

UK Trade and Investment

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the outcomes have been of the leads generated by the UKTI Events Alliance programme in the last 12 months.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade assumed the responsibilities of UKTI in July 2016.Over the last 12 months an estimate of £127.7 million export wins has been recorded as outcomes from the leads generated by the Department for International Trade's Events Alliance programme.

Department for International Trade: Contracts

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to contract notice 2016/5 166-299652, for what reasons his Department decided to tender for event specialists; and whether his Department considered using trade associations to deliver any of those events.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade (DIT) is committed to opening up its contract opportunities to suppliers to ensure economies of scale, global reach, professionalism and operational efficiencies. DIT therefore outsources all event delivery (in which around 400 will be delivered globally in 2016-17). DIT’s incumbent supplier’s contract will end in 2017.

Saudi Arabia: Arms Trade

Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many export licences for the sale of guided missile kits to Saudi Arabia have been granted in the last five years; and when the last such licence was granted.

Mark Garnier: Guided missile kits are not standard descriptors used on strategic export licence statistics. Information on arms export licences including higher assembly platforms, are published as Official Statistics in the Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. They are available to view at GOV.UK.All export licences are issued in strict accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.

Foreign Investment in UK

Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the level of inward investment in the UK in the last six months.

Greg Hands: I refer the hon Member for Ochil and South Perthshire to the answer I gave to the hon Member for East Ham today, UIN: 59624.

Trade Agreements

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on whether the UK will remain party to bilateral trade deals the EU currently has with other countries after the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: Ministers and officials in the Department for International Trade are working closely with counterparts across a wide range of countries and markets, in order to promote the UK as a great place to do business and with which to trade. The UK remains committed to pursuing free trade. That includes seeking to achieve continuity in our trade and investment relationships with third countries, including those covered by EU free trade agreements or other EU preferential arrangements.

Foreign Investment in UK

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2017 to Question 58220, how many Foreign Direct Investment projects there have been into the UK since 23 June 2016; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade collects and validates information on known foreign direct investment (FDI) projects that materialise in the UK during a financial year. The results are published annually to allow for full quality control of the results, and can be found on Gov.uk.The latest set of FDI results can be found using the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-inward-investment-results-for-the-tax-year-2015-to-2016An overview of the last five years worth of FDI into the UK regions can be accessed on:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-direct-investment-projects-by-ukti-regions-201011-to-201415For any FDI and Export related publications, please consult:https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/exports-and-inward-investment

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Packaging: Recycling

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of (a) recyclable and (b) compostable packaging used in each of the last five years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We do not collect this data.

Packaging: Recycling

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to increase the proportion of packaging that is (a) recyclable or (b) compostable.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations require businesses to ensure that all packaging does not exceed what is needed to make sure that the products are safe, hygienic and acceptable for both the packed product and for the consumer. They are also required to ensure that it is recyclable (which includes compostable under specific conditions) or recoverable at end of life. These Regulations apply to those responsible for the packing or filling products into packaging and those importing packed or filled packaging into the UK from elsewhere. The Government is committed to increasing recycling rates. Current policies and regulations have resulted in a significant increase in recycling over the last decade, with recycling of packaging rising from around 46% in 2005 to 59% in 2014, but we recognise that more needs to be done. The targets for plastic and glass packaging are set to increase up to 2020 and we recently consulted on possible increases for other materials. Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the Government is developing and delivering activities in support of the use of recycled materials in new products and activities to stimulate its demand. In September last year, WRAP and an industry advisory group published a framework for greater consistency in recycling. Actions from this framework aim to identify opportunities to rationalise packaging formats (in particular plastic packaging) to those that are recyclable and for which there is a steady market, and to help local authorities to recycle a greater variety of plastics.

Lions: Imports

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many CITES import permits were noted as returned used for lion in each year since 2010.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK CITES Management Authority database records show that since 2010, 2 CITES import permits have been noted as returned used for live Lions (Panthera leo) both in 2012.

Livestock: Homeopathy

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance is issued by her Department on the efficacy of homeopathy treatment in livestock.

George Eustice: All veterinary medicines, including homeopathics, that make medicinal claims (treatment or prevention of disease) must provide data to demonstrate their efficacy and require a full marketing authorisation in order to be sold in the UK. Guidance on the efficacy data required to gain a marketing authorisation is provided by the European Medicines Agency. There are currently no homeopathic veterinary medicines authorised with medicinal claims. The veterinary homeopathic products on the market have all been registered either through the homeopathic registration scheme or are on the ‘Grandfather list’. These products are not permitted to make medicinal claims.

Grouse Moors

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to improve management practices of grouse moors in rural England.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I set out the Government’s policies on this matter during the debate on driven grouse shooting on 31 October in Westminster Hall, organised by the Petitions Committee.

Air Pollution

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to set (a) requirements and (b) guidelines for local councils to take steps to improve air quality.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is firmly committed to improving the UK’s air quality and cutting harmful emissions. Sections 82 to 84 of the Environment Act 1995 require local authorities to review air quality in their areas and to designate an air quality management area (AQMA) where air quality objectives are not being achieved. Where an AQMA is designated, the local authority must produce an air quality action plan describing the pollution reduction measures to be put in place. Defra provides statutory policy and technical guidance for local authorities in England to enable them to fulfil their air quality management duties. Defra also provides technical support to local authorities via a dedicated local air quality management Helpdesk (phone, email and webpage). Local authorities in England can already implement Clean Air Zones voluntarily. We have recently consulted on a national framework for Clean Air Zones and supporting legislation to enable the Government to mandate local authorities to implement Clean Air Zones.

Clean Air Zones

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to expand the Clean Air Zone to more cities.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is considering next steps in light of the High Court judgment on our national air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide and recent updates in data on emissions from diesel vehicles. We will set out further measures shortly in line with the timetable agreed with the High Court. We continue to push forward with our existing plans for five Clean Air Zones around the country. Other local authorities can introduce Clean Air Zones should they wish to do so using their existing powers under the Transport Act 2000.

Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she took to reduce nitrogen dioxide in the (a) agriculture, (b) transportation, (c) energy and (d) industrial sectors in the last 12 months.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is committed to reducing harmful emissions and improving air quality. The UK has agreed legally binding UK targets to reduce emissions of key air pollutants, including oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by 2020 (through the Gothenburg protocol) and 2030 (as part of the 2016 National Emission Ceilings Directive). These limits will be incorporated into UK legislation by the end of June next year. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is one component of NOx. Emissions of NOx from different source sectors are available on the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory website at: naei.defra.gov.uk/data/data-selector?view=air-pollutants. In the last 12 months, we have taken action to reduce NOx emissions in the transport, energy and industry sectors, as set out in the table below. Sector% Contribution to total NOx emissions (2014)Steps taken to reduce emissions of NOx in past 12 monthsAgriculture0.02- No specific steps were taken in relation to agricultureTransport49- Consultation on draft Clean Air Zone Framework and supporting legislation closed on 9 December 2016; in parallel, we are working closely with local authorities on detailed design of zones - Government has committed >£2 billion since 2011 to support uptake of ultra low emission vehicles and green transport initiatives and support local authorities in taking action - In Autumn Statement, Chancellor announced further £290 million funding for ultra low emission vehicles; funding will be invested in projects including supporting electric vehicles, low emission buses and taxis, and alternative fuels - In October 2016, Government launched Air Quality Grant for 2016/2017 which will award at least £3 million to English local authorities seeking to improve local air quality including through transportEnergy28- Defra is currently consulting on emission controls for new and existing diesel generators designed to protect local air quality and curb projected increase in NOx emissions from generators operating for energy market - Changes implemented to requirements on Large Combustion Plants, set out in Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), which place more stringent emission limits on these unitsIndustry19- Medium Combustion Plant Directive (MCPD) came into force December 2015; will apply emission controls to combustion plants between 1 and 50MW from Dec 2017; Defra currently consulting on approach for transposing MCPD into domestic legislation - Requirements of IED have been implemented, including updating standards that apply to specific sectors, e.g. iron, steel, glass sectors

Sheep Meat: Exports

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's press release, Lamb exports to America closer, published on 27 July 2016, what information she holds on when the first Welsh lamb exports to the US are expected to take place.

George Eustice: The US authorities are conducting the necessary steps to formally lift their restrictions on exports of EU lamb to the US. Defra is working with the US authorities to ensure exports of lamb from the UK can commence as quickly as possible once the restrictions have been lifted.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers in the South Lakeland local authority area have not received their 2016 basic payment scheme funding.

George Eustice: As at close of business 11 January, 45 out of 922 eligible farm businesses in the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency have not received their Basic Payment Scheme 2016 payment.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2016 to Question 58001, on flood control, what her most recent estimate is of the number of lead flood authorities which have published a completed local flood risk strategy since 31 March 2016.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) report their progress with local flood risk management strategies annually. This data will next be collected in the spring and will provide an update on progress as of 31 March 2017. New data on those who have published a completed strategy since March 2016 is therefore not available. Until this time we are specifically monitoring the situation of those 12 LLFAs that as of 31 March 2016 had not yet consulted on a draft strategy through the Regional Flood and Coastal Committees and the Environment Agency. As a result of this, I am aware this figure has now reduced to 8 and I have recently written to the 8 authorities encouraging them to complete their strategy as quickly as possible.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether discussions between Ministers or officials of his Department and the Northern Ireland Executive on budgetary challenges facing that Executive during 2015 included the escalated spending exposure under the Northern Ireland non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme.

James Brokenshire: Ministers and officials of the Northern Ireland Office engage regularly with the Executive to discuss matters of mutual interest. However, I am not aware of any specific discussions on the costs of the Northern Ireland renewable heating scheme during the period in question.

Northern Ireland Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the discussions between Ministers and officials of his Department and HM Treasury on budgetary challenges facing the Northern Ireland Executive during 2015 included the escalated spending exposure under the Northern Ireland non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme.

James Brokenshire: Ministers and officials of the Northern Ireland Office engage regularly with HM Treasury to discuss matters of mutual interest in relation to Northern Ireland. However, I am not aware of any specific discussions on the costs of the Northern Ireland renewable heating scheme during the period in question.

Domestic Violence: Northern Ireland

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will meet the Northern Ireland Justice Minister to discuss how his Department can support work to prevent violence against women and children in Northern Ireland.

James Brokenshire: This Government is strongly committed to tackling violence against women and girls in all its forms, and published a new ‘Ending Violence Against Women and Girls’ (VAWG) Strategy in March 2016, supported by increased funding of £80m to 2020. As Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) policy is devolved to Northern Ireland and Scotland, the strategy covers England and Wales only, but the Government will continue to work with counterparts in the NI Executive to share best practice. Officials from the Home Office and Ministry of Justice engage regularly with their counterparts in Northern Ireland on these issues.

Department of Health

Organs: British Nationals Abroad

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to prevent British citizens from receiving organs overseas from the forced organ harvesting trade.

Nicola Blackwood: The Government supports the establishment of lawful and ethical organ donation and transplantation programmes to address the world-wide shortage of organs for transplant and a range of action to discourage organ trafficking, transplant tourism and commercialism. The United Kingdom formally signed the Council of Europe Convention Against Trafficking in Human Organs on 25 March 2015 and has laws and protocols in place to ensure well-regulated practice to prevent organ trafficking in the UK. The Government supports the Declaration of Istanbul, which encourages all countries to draw up legal and professional frameworks to govern organ donation and transplantation activities. We have also participated in the development of the World Health Organization Guiding Principles to ensure that human material removed from deceased and living donors for the purpose of transplantation only takes place according to agreed ethical principles. Patients receiving transplants outside the UK will be subject to the relevant regulatory regime in place and should be aware of the risks, including possible prosecution for non-compliance with relevant local and international provisions, poor donor care, poorer graft survival, infection and in extreme cases, death.

Palliative Care

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2016 to Question 57868, when he plans to publish the outcomes of testing the new innovative approach to serious illness conversations at the New Care Model sites at Airedale and Southend.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2016 to Question 57868, what outcomes are being measured at the New Care Model sites at Airedale and Southend with regard to the new innovative approach to serious illness conversations.

David Mowat: As part of the Serious Illness Care Programme pilot, patient conversations are due to be completed in summer 2017. The Research and Innovation Directorate at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust will then evaluate the outcome data collected, so that they can complete the pilot report. A variety of qualitative and quantitative measures will be collected and assessed as part of the pilots. This includes assessments of patients’ understanding and control of their health care, and their quality of life.

Doctors' List of Patients

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the GP-to-patient ratio is in (a) North Lancashire Community Care Group (CCG), (b) Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre CCG and (c) England.

David Mowat: The information requested is in the attached document.



GP to patient ratio
(Excel SpreadSheet, 25 KB)

Cerebral Palsy

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an assessment of the recommendations in Action Cerebral Palsy's audit of cerebral palsy provision, Variations in Care; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what records his Department holds of the number of children born with cerebral palsy each year in (a) each Community Care Group area, (b) each local authority area, (c) each region and (d) nationally.

David Mowat: The Department has made no formal assessment of the recommendations in Action Cerebral Palsy's audit of cerebral palsy provision, ‘Variations in Care’. Information of the number of children born with cerebral palsy in each year is not held centrally.

Ovarian Cancer

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer.

David Mowat: Public Health England is currently developing a generic approach which will enable us to cover a range of symptoms in one campaign. A regional pilot campaign to raise awareness of a range of abdominal symptoms that can indicate a wider number of cancers including ovarian (and the need to visit the doctor promptly with these symptoms) will run from 9 February until 31 March 2017 in the East and West Midlands. This work has been developed with the help of a number of experts, including clinicians and charities. The regional pilot will be evaluated and results will help inform decisions about how to expand this campaign in future.

Clinical Trials: Nottingham

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of whether the proper protocols were followed in the CLOTHES trial at Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and an Independent Trial Steering Committee, appointed by the NIHR, assessed the study protocols during the course of the research. No concerns were raised. The study was also subject to scrutiny by the sponsor and ethical committees, as is the usual course of activity in such a trial.

Clinical Trials: Nottingham

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to investigate why no independent audit body observed the CLOTHES trial at Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit in any assessment of that trial.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) appointed an Independent Trial Steering Committee to oversee this independent trial. The study team also reported regularly to the NIHR, as a condition of their funding contract and in accordance with their membership of the NIHR portfolio.

Palliative Care: Training

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2016 to Question 57868, when Health Education England plans to publish its core competency framework for the standardisation of end of life care training.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2016 to Question 57868, when Health Education England plans to publish the new competency framework for all midwifery staff on basic bereavement training that is being developed with NHS England and the Royal College of Midwives.

David Mowat: Health Education England’s (HEE) End of Life Care Core Skills Education and Training Framework is in the final stages of comment and amendment by the steering group following a consultation period. HEE are hoping to publish the framework in early 2017. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM), the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Charity (SANDS) and other charities have agreed to design a new bereavement care pathway, rather than a new competency framework specifically for midwives, to improve the bereavement care provided by all professions. Additionally, the Nursing Medical Council is undertaking a review of midwifery standards and competencies, due to be completed in 2018. SANDS are also running bereavement training days, accredited by the RCM, for both student midwives and fully trained midwives.

Clinical Trials: Nottingham

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the robustness of the peer review system for clinical trials especially in relation to reviewing the CLOTHES trial at Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Healthcare Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme follows a process of expert review through which research briefs, research applications and final reports are critically assessed by relevant individuals unconnected to both the decision making body and those who have prepared the material being assessed. The practice of peer review is very commonly used to inform decision making for scientific publications and grant funding. It involves colleagues in a relevant field of expertise, including patients, members of the public, subject experts, clinical staff, service managers and public health professionals. The NIHR selects all reviewers. Expert review was undertaken for the CLOTHES trial, in accordance with NIHR HTA policy. This included one public and four expert representatives. Checks were carried out to ensure that all reviewers were suitably qualified and were not conflicted.

Clinical Trials: Nottingham

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will investigate the potential conflict of interest at the Health Technology Assessment Programme for those people responsible for awarding funding for the CLOTHES clinical trials who were also heading the Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit to which funding was ultimately granted.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Healthcare Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme has a clear conflict of interests procedure to ensure that each application is judged on merit. Any panel member on the NIHR HTA Commissioning Board with a conflict of interest is asked to leave the room during any discussion or decision on these projects or issues. Any conflicts are recorded in the minutes and made public after the meeting. The NIHR HTA Commissioning Board agreed to fund the CLOTHES trial at the Board’s July 2012 meeting and the public minutes can be found here: http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/13525/minutes-jul-2012.pdf

Breast Cancer: Medical Treatments

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what treatment options are available for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who stop responding to Herceptin (trastuzumab).

Nicola Blackwood: The available treatment option for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who stop responding to trastuzumab (Herceptin) is trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla). Trastuzumab emtansine is currently only available through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in England. However, on 29 December 2016 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published draft guidance that did not recommend its use in the National Health Service in England. If the final NICE guidance remains negative, from 90 days after the publication of the final guidance, patients already receiving the drug via the CDF will continue to receive it until the patient and their prescribing physician consider it appropriate to discontinue treatment. However, no new patients will be able to receive it from that point and the treatment options for those patients will still be standard cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Electronic Government: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to improve provision of services available in the Welsh language on the gov.uk website.

David Mowat: The health and care system in Wales is devolved. The majority of health services information for Wales is published on the Welsh National Health Service website:www.wales.nhs.uk or the Welsh Government’s website:http://gov.wales/topics/health/ If the Department is responsible for producing any policy content or guidance that directly affects Wales we would commission translation services and provide the content in both Welsh and English on:www.gov.ukFor example, the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ recent alcohol guidance report was published in both languages.

Care Homes: Dementia

Mary Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that sufficient care home places are available for people with dementia.

David Mowat: The Care Act (2014) placed duties on local authorities making them responsible for ensuring there is an effective pool of quality providers of social care in their area with capacity to meet the needs of their local population, this includes specialist care needed to support people with dementia. The Department is supporting local authorities to influence their local market through improved market facilitation and commissioning to ensure that local markets are effective. Local authorities engage with their providers to signal changes needed in capacity including through publishing a Market Position Statement. The Department has worked with Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, Local Government Association, the care sector and other partners to produce a wide range of guidance and support about market shaping and commissioning. We have brought this together in an on-line Hub that is now published on GOV.UK at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-market-shaping/adult-social-care-market-shaping The Department continues to monitor capacity and effectiveness of the market.

HIV Infection

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to amend the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to provide clearer guidance on the provision of HIV support services by local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and NHS England.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department and Public Health England have to bring together all clinical guidance on HIV support to ensure that advice is readily available to local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and NHS England.

Nicola Blackwood: Local authorities have for many years been responsible for HIV social care services and no changes were made to these arrangements by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Funding of HIV social care services also sits outside the public health ring-fenced grant. The British HIV Association, working in partnership with care providers, professional associations, commissioners and people living with HIV, produced in 2013, a set of quality standards for the care of people with HIV in the United Kingdom which are available at:http://www.bhiva.org/standards-of-care-2013.aspx The standards cover 12 key themes, prioritised as being the most important issues for the care of people with HIV. Derived from the best available evidence, the standards focus on aspects of care that have particular relevance for delivering equitable high-quality services that secure the best possible outcomes for people with HIV.

Baby Care Units

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to improve provision of overnight accommodation for parents of babies receiving neonatal care.

Mr Philip Dunne: Ensuring the very best and safest care for sick babies and their parents during what may be the most difficult time of their lives is absolutely essential. As part of a review into neonatal critical care, NHS England is currently in the process of collecting information on the availability of parent accommodation, as an important part of the service specification. Individual National Health Service providers are responsible for providing this service within the current contractual arrangements. NHS England is visiting every trust as part of the Quality Surveillance Team reviews and further information as to the broader availability will be available in due course.

Ophthalmic Services: North West

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time has been for a follow-up appointment at eye clinics in (a) Morecambe Bay NHS Trust and (b) Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in each of the last three years.

David Mowat: The information requested is not available. NHS England publishes information on general practitioner (GP) referral to first definitive treatment for the ophthalmology treatment function and NHS Digital publishes information on GP referral to first outpatient appointments for ophthalmology, neither publishes data on follow-up appointments.

Lung Diseases

Dr James Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made towards achieving the targets set out in the Outcomes Strategy for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma, published in July 2011, which his Department estimated could save 7,800 lives annually.

David Mowat: No assessment has been made. The strategy and its companion document provide advice to the National Health Service on implementing changes at a local level to improve the management and care of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Elements of the strategy have been incorporated into the NHS outcomes framework and have been used to develop the national COPD and asthma audits, the forthcoming best practice tariff for COPD and the smoking cessation Commissioning for Quality and Innovation payment. The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Outcomes Indicator Set also includes indicators to support CCGs to understand the progress they are making in improving outcomes for people with COPD.

Cancer

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants of his Department have met Health Education England to discuss cancer workforce issues since January 2016.

David Mowat: Cancer survival rates are now at a record high in England. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health regularly meets with Health Education England (HEE) to discuss workforce matters, including the progress it has made on its commitment to deliver a workforce with the right skills and competences to deliver high-quality modern cancer services. Departmental officials also regularly meet with HEE as a member of the National Cancer Transformation Board, the group which has been tasked with overseeing the implementation of the 2015 Cancer Strategy.

Health Visitors: Training

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many training places for health visitors have been (a) commissioned and (b) filled in each calendar year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: Health Education England make plans for training places across the health sector each year based on projected supply and demand, balancing key priorities across the sectors where required. The following table shows the total number of planned training places for student health visitors who began training in each year in England in each of the last six complete years. The number of places increased in the period up to 2013/14 so as to support delivery of the national Health Visitor Programme’s commitment to an additional 4,200 health visitors. Since the programme’s completion in 2015, the number of planned places has been reduced. The year period 2016/17 has planned training place numbers available only. Health VisitorPlannedActual2010/116425452011/121,4431,6062012/132,5262,2662013/142,7872,7872014/151,0411,1592015/161,1938842016/17817  Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns.

General Practitioners: Mental Health Services

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GPs in England have specialised in mental health; and how many mental health workers are attached to GP practices in England.

David Mowat: This information is not collected centrally. In the General Practice Forward View, NHS England have committed to invest an extra 3,000 mental health therapists to be working in primary care by 2020 to support localities to expand the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

Social Services: Finance

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to develop a long-term sustainable funding system for social care.

David Mowat: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 January 2017 to Question 58419.

Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidents of hospitalisation due to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome have been reported to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA); and what steps the HFEA is taking to ensure that all suspected serious adverse reactions are reported to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many adverse incidents due to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome have been reported by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in each year since 1991.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to mitigate the risks of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

Nicola Blackwood: The information on the number of incidents of hospitalisation and adverse incidents due to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) reported to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The HFEA has advised that severe or critical cases of OHSS are treated as adverse incidents. A clinic must submit an incident report to the HFEA whenever it is made aware of a case of OHSS requiring a hospital admission, that has a severity grading of severe or critical. The HFEA would expect the clinic to review the patient’s drug stimulation regime, treatment and predisposing factors for OHSS, and to revise its practice and protocols where appropriate. This review is expected to be submitted to the HFEA within 10 working days from the date the incident was reported. The clinic’s report is reviewed by the Authority’s inspectorate and the clinical governance lead and, where appropriate, further enforcement action may be taken or relevant authorities contacted. Should there be unexpected adverse drug reactions not associated with a particular drug regime, these should be reported to Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), by the patient’s clinician, under the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme. The Yellow Card scheme enables clinicians to help improve medicines safety by reporting all suspected adverse drug reactions to MHRA. The scheme is focused on healthcare professionals and patients rather than regulatory bodies. The HFEA does not separately report adverse drug reactions to MHRA.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of human eggs that would be required annually for (a) pro-nuclear transfer and (b) maternal spindle transfer should the NHS provide mitochondrial transfer.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential of (a) research into the use of mitochondrial transfer techniques and (b) subsequent treatments which may be offered on the NHS.

Nicola Blackwood: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that no estimate has been made of the number of human eggs that would be required annually for the maternal spindle transfer (MST) and pronuclear transfer (PNT) mitochondrial donation techniques. The number of eggs required will depend on the number of clinics who are licensed to perform the techniques, the number of patients they treat and the number of eggs required in the treatment of each patient. The independent expert panel convened by the HFEA published its fourth review into the safety and efficacy of mitochondrial donation on 30 November 2016. The expert panel made a number of recommendations on the potential avenues for laboratory research around mitochondrial donation techniques, which the HFEA supports. In terms of any subsequent treatments which may be offered, Regulations made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, only permit the MST and PNT techniques to be used in treatment. Further research may lead to refinement of these techniques but the clinical use of any alternative mitochondrial donation techniques would require new legislation.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in how many licensable IVF treatment cycles at least 20 eggs were collected in the last five years for which figures are available.

Nicola Blackwood: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that in the last five years where a full year’s figures are available (2010-2014), there were 17,194 cycles of treatment where at least 20 eggs were collected. This is out of a total number of 304,183 treatment cycles that took place within the same period.

Fertility: Clinics

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many adverse incidents in fertility clinics were reported as grade (a) C, (b) B and (c) A incidents in the last five years for which figures are available.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is show in the following table: Date ReportedGrade of incidentABC2010-2012 Combined report3714815201342082622014216523220150200267 Notes:Grade A: the most serious type of incident. These happen infrequently and examples may include a patient being implanted with an embryo that is intended for someone else, the death of a patient or an incident which affects a number of patients, for example, when a storage unit malfunctions.Grade B: serious adverse events or reactions such as the loss of embryos for one patient, breaches of confidentially where sensitive personal data or data relating to more than one patient is sent to the wrong recipient, or when a piece of equipment malfunctions affecting the quality of a patient’s embryos.Grade C: adverse events or reactions such as one of many eggs rendered unusable during processing (for example the moving of an egg between dishes). Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s most recent annual report, covering January to December 2015, can be found on the Authority’s website at: http://www.hfea.gov.uk/9449.html

Antibiotics: Drug Resistance

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will take steps to set up a National Antibiotic Register for recording all hospital and community patients who have an antibiotic resistant infection.

Nicola Blackwood: Such a system already exists. Hospital microbiology laboratories routinely record the results of testing bacteria isolated from infections for susceptibility or resistance to antibiotics. These data are voluntarily submitted to a national antimicrobial resistance (AMR) database called Second Generation Surveillance System (SGSS) maintained by Public Health England. Currently, 98% of hospital laboratories submit their AMR data to SGSS.

Academic Health Science Networks

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the Academic Health Science Centres have spent since their creation on (a) external contractors, (b) promotional materials and (c) furniture in each financial quarter for which figures are available.

Nicola Blackwood: This information is not held centrally by the Department of Health (DH). The DH-designated Academic Health Science Centres (AHSCs) receive no funding from the Department and there is no contractual relationship between the Department and each of the six DH-designated AHSCs.

Antibiotics: Drug Resistance

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will take steps to record on death certificates  antibiotic resistant infection as the patient's cause of death.

David Mowat: There is currently provision for recording resistant infections on death certificates. For example, guidance on recording deaths from MRSA was issued in 2005 by the then Chief Medical Officer. However, it is often the case that by the time someone dies they may have a number of diseases and complications of illness or treatment. It is, therefore, a matter of clinical judgment to decide whether a condition present at or just before death was a primary or secondary cause of a patient’s death. The World Health Organization is currently working on a revision (ICD 11) of its diagnostic coding system ICD 10. This is due in 2018 and will have a more comprehensive coverage of types of antimicrobial resistance.

Antibiotics: Drug Resistance

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether all blood assay results showing infection or resistance to antibiotics go onto a national register.

Nicola Blackwood: Hospital microbiology laboratories routinely record the results of testing bacteria isolated from blood for susceptibility or resistance to antibiotics. Since 1989, Public Health England (and its predecessors, the Public Health Laboratory Service and the Health Protection Agency) have requested that laboratories submit their stored data on resistance in bacteria isolated from blood to a national database called Second Generation Surveillance System (SGSS). Currently, 98% of hospital laboratories submit their antimicrobial resistance data.

Health Services

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England plans to publish the decision of the prioritisation round for specialised services for 2017-18.

David Mowat: NHS England expects to publish its prioritisation decisions for specialised services for the financial year 2017/18 in the spring of 2017. Clinical policy propositions that were not funded on grounds of affordability in the 2016/17 prioritisation round will have the opportunity to be considered again alongside new proposals being put forward for prioritisation in 2017/18.

Stem Cells: Transplant Surgery

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information will be made available to patients on how NHS England came to the decision routinely not to fund second stem cell transplants for those patients who have relapsed.

Nicola Blackwood: Decisions related to the commissioning of National Health Service treatments in England are made by NHS England using a published process that has recently been the subject of a public consultation. The outcomes of the prioritisation process were published as a news item on the NHS England website (https://www.england.nhs.uk/2016/12/hiv-prevention-pregramme/) and an article was included in the specialised commissioning stakeholder newsletter. In addition, the outcome of the process was emailed to all registered stakeholders for Clinical Reference Groups.

Clinical Trials

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance and sanctions are in place in the event a clinical trial is found to have been mishandled.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health Research funds independent research. The sponsor is responsible for ensuring that appropriate guidance and sanctions are in place should any issues or concerns arise concerning the conduct of a study.

London Ambulance Service: ICT

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the CommandPoint system for the London Ambulance Service has experienced an outage or failure in the last 12 months.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Computer Aided Dispatch system at London Ambulance Service has experienced outages on three occasions in the last 12 months. Following the most recent outage, an investigation is ongoing in order to determine a clear cause.

London Ambulance Service: ICT

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the contract with Northrup Grumman for the CommandPoint system used by the London Ambulance Service is due for renewal.

Mr Philip Dunne: This information is commercially sensitive and is therefore not in the public domain.

NHS Trusts: Billing

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that NHS trusts provide prompt and accurate payments to small businesses.

Mr Philip Dunne: National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts are required to follow the advice within HM Treasury’s ‘Managing Public Money’ which sets out that they should include a clause in their contracts requiring contractors to pay their suppliers within 30 days. The Department has also developed standard ‘NHS Terms and conditions’ for use by NHS trusts and foundation trusts which reiterate these terms when procuring goods and services from suppliers. The Department of Health Group’s own Manual for Accounts sets out that NHS bodies must disclose their compliance with the Better Practice Payment Code target (to pay at least 95% of invoices, both for NHS and non-NHS suppliers within 30 days of receipt of an invoice) and detail their performance in their annual reports. The NHS Provider Regulators (NHS Improvement) has also raised awareness of compliance with the Code through its official monthly bulletin.

Accident and Emergency Departments: North West

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many beds were available at accident and emergency departments in the North West region in each year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is not held centrally.

Ambulance Services: North West

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the number of paramedics on ambulance services in the North West.

Mr Philip Dunne: No such assessment has been made. The latest workforce figures for September 2016 show that there were 1,744 ambulance paramedics at North West Ambulance Service. This is 67 more than in September 2015 (or 4.0%), and 427 more than May 2010 (or 32.4%). North West Ambulance Service is currently undertaking a recruitment exercise which has led to a significant reduction in the number of vacancies.

Breast Cancer: Drugs

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans that patients will lose access to Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine) if NICE does not recommend that drug in its final appraisal determination; what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients who are eligible for the drug Tyverb (lapatinib); and what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients who are receiving the drug Tyverb (lapatinib) on the NHS.

Nicola Blackwood: No patients will lose access to trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) for treating HER2-positive, unresectable locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer after treatment with trastuzumab and a taxane on publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) draft final appraisal determination as this is not NICE’s final guidance, which is expected in March 2017. Under the new arrangements for the appraisal and funding of cancer drugs that came into effect from July 2016, where final guidance from NICE does not recommend a drug that is currently available through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), no further routine funding will be available for patients to be prescribed the drug. Any patients who have been prescribed the drug during the time in which the drug was in the Fund will continue to receive the drug at the pharmaceutical company’s cost until the patient and their prescribing physician consider it appropriate to discontinue treatment. Lapatinib (Tyverb) is no longer routinely commissioned for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer through the CDF. Applications for its use can be made through NHS England’s individual funding request process and no estimate has been made of the number of patients eligible to receive it through that route. NHS England has advised that there may be a very small number of patients who accessed lapatinib when it was on the CDF and who are continuing their treatment until they and their clinician agree an appropriate time to stop.

Stem Cells: Transplant Surgery

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what alternative options are available to a clinician who considers a second stem cell transplant to be the best course of treatment for their patient, as a consequence of NHS England's decision routinely not to fund such transplants for patients whose disease relapses.

Nicola Blackwood: Decisions related to the commissioning of National Health Service treatments in England are made by NHS England using a published process that has recently been the subject of a public consultation. This decision is kept under review and will be formally considered by NHS England’s Clinical Priorities Advisory Group later this year. While second transplants for patients with relapsed disease are not currently routinely commissioned, clinicians can apply for funding for a stem cell transplant where the decision about an individual patient is that a transplant may be an appropriate treatment option to pursue and that patient is assessed by NHS England to be clinically exceptional or have a clinically critical need.

Prisoners: Mental Illness

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prisoners have been diagnosed with mental health problems after their incarceration in the last three years; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle mental health problems during the prisoner rehabilitation process.

Nicola Blackwood: Information on the number of prisoners diagnosed with mental health problems after their incarceration in the last three years is not held centrally.

Bereavement Counselling: Perinatal Mortality

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many specialist bereavement counselling services for women and their families who have experienced stillbirth or infant death are provided by NHS trusts.

Mr Philip Dunne: This information is not held centrally.In Our Commitment to you for end of life care: The Government Response to the Review of Choice in End of Life Care (2016), the Government committed the Department to ‘work with system and voluntary sector partners to identify bereavement care pathway exemplar models to be shared widely across the National Health Service so that for instance, a hospital in the East of England can learn from and implement the good bereavement practice of a service in the West’. This will help to ensure that all parents receive the appropriate level of bereavement care they need.

Bereavement Counselling: Perinatal Mortality

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to improve the aftercare and bereavement counselling services for women and their families who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death.

Mr Philip Dunne: It is important that women and families who have experienced loss and bereavement are offered the right care and services to support them. NHS England is developing a ‘toolkit/resource pack’ to assist local services in capturing the experiences of loss and bereavement in a sensitive and evidence based manner. This will be used by Local Maternity Systems as they develop and implement action plans to transform maternity services in their locality. In Our Commitment to you for end of life care: The Government Response to the Review of Choice in End of Life Care (2016), the Government committed the Department to ‘work with system and voluntary sector partners to identify bereavement care pathway exemplar models to be shared widely across the National Health Service so that for instance, a hospital in the East of England can learn from and implement the good bereavement practice of a service in the West’. This will help to ensure that all parents receive the appropriate level of bereavement care they need.

Mental Health Services: Veterans

Mr Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what additional support services his Department is planning to provide for veterans with mental health problems from April 2017.

David Mowat: NHS England is currently in the process of tendering for a veterans mental health service to begin in April 2017. The service will offer consistent support across England for both veterans and serving personnel on a pathway to leave the service and build on the veterans mental health services already in place following the Fighting Fit report by my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Andrew Murrison).

Mental Health Services: Veterans

Mr Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the standard and availability of support for veterans with mental health problems provided by the voluntary sector.

David Mowat: The Department does not assess services provided by the voluntary sector.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from NHS England on changing the four-hour accident and emergency waiting target.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department has received no such representations from NHS England. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State confirmed on 11 January 2017, Official Report, column 352, that he remained committed to maintaining the four hour accident and emergency (A&E) standard for those attending A&E.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of patients have attended accident and emergency departments because they have been unable to get a timely appointment with their GP in each of the last three years.

David Mowat: The proportion of patients who have attended accident and emergency (A&E) departments because they have been unable to get a timely appointment with their general practitioner (GP) is not held centrally. The Government is committed to improving access to GP services. By 2020, everyone will be able to access routine GP appointments at evenings and weekends. 17 million patients have already benefitted from extended access to GP appointments at evenings and weekends through the GP Access Fund.

NHS Professionals

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the advice his Department has received on privatising NHS Professionals.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department has received advice from external professional advisers on the potential sale of a stake in NHS Professionals Ltd, announced on 17 November 2016. In line with standard commercial procurement practice, the information requested cannot be released as it is commercially sensitive.

Mental Health Services: Veterans

Mr Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made in the joint commissioning of services to support former service personnel with mental health problems.

David Mowat: Following a national engagement exercise during 2016 on mental health services for veterans, NHS England commissioned a pathfinder transition, intervention and liaison mental health service for armed forces serving personnel approaching discharge and after discharge. The service has been launched and is a joint initiative between the National Health Service and the Ministry of Defence and will run until the end of March 2017. The evidence from this service will help to shape the service specification from April 2017.

Capita

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of Capita's performance in processing dental performer list applications for newly qualified dentists; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat: Capita has made NHS England aware of a number of issues involving the National Dental Performers List process. Immediate action has been taken to put in place plans to recover the services.

Avian Influenza

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken in response to the pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 outbreak in England and Wales.

Nicola Blackwood: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the lead government department for the response to avian influenza incidents in the United Kingdom. Public Health England (PHE) supports Defra by advising on the potential impacts on human health and coordinating actions to mitigate any impact on human health. PHE has introduced a number of measures, in relation to avian influenza, which are applicable to the current Avian Influenza A (H5N8) incidents in the UK. This includes: issuing public health guidance for health protection teams and health professionals in supporting the response to poultry outbreaks and wild bird incidents; maintaining laboratory capability to test for suspected avian influenza infections in humans, through the PHE laboratory network and reference laboratory; developing and publishing a risk assessment of the public health implications of avian influenza incidents and outbreaks; and monitoring international trends through epidemic intelligence. In addition, in response to the poultry outbreaks and wild bird incidents, PHE has worked to identify persons directly exposed in these incidents and provide them with health advice, undertake health surveillance and, where appropriate, ensure they have access to post-exposure prophylaxis with Neuraminidase Inhibitors (otherwise known as antivirals). PHE has also undertaken a risk assessment in conjunction with Defra, and worked to provide information and advice on the public health and human aspects of this incident.

Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Five Year Forward View in Mental Health of February 2016, when his Department plans to publish mental health prevalence surveys for (a) children, (b) young people and (c) adults.

Nicola Blackwood: We will be publishing a report in 2018 on the mental health survey of children and young people that we commissioned in 2015. The mental health prevalence survey for adults is conducted every seven years. The last adult survey was published on 29 September 2016. This information is available on NHS Digital’s website at: http://content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB21748

NHS: Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the evidence of Sir Simon Stevens to the Public Accounts Committee on 11 January 2017, whether real terms funding for the NHS will fall in 2018-19.

Mr Philip Dunne: The National Health Service will be receiving £10 billion more per year in real terms by 2020-21 compared to 2014-15. Real terms funding for the NHS in 2018-19 will rise by 0.3%, as illustrated in the following table which sets out the financial settlement allocated to the NHS. NHS budget for Spending Review period1Revenue and capital combined2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-202020-21Total (£ million)100,500105,975109,337111,824114,929119,035Real terms increase on previous year (%) 3.7%1.3%0.3%0.7%1.3%Real terms increase on 2015-16 baseline (£ billion) 3.85.35.86.78.4Real terms increase on 2014-15 baseline (£ billion)2.06.07.08.09.010.0  1These figures differ from the NHS Total Departmental Expenditure Limit figures announced at Spending Review due to a number of technical adjustments, including transfers of functions. The main transfer of function is the move of public health services for 0-5 year olds from NHS England to local government. There are a small number of other transfers including the move of the Leadership Academy to Health Education England. To ensure comparability of numbers, in this table £500 million has been removed from the 2015-16 baseline, representing 6 months of funding for 0-5 public health services between 1 April and 30 September 2015 and these other planned transfers.

NHS: Per Capita Costs

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding his Department (a) allocates to the NHS per capita at present and (b) allocated per capita in 2010; and what percentage change in funding per capita there has been between 2010 and 2016.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department’s allocation to NHS England in 2015-16 equates to £1,835 spend per capita in 2015-16.It is not possible to provide a corresponding figure for 2010-11 as NHS England only came into existence in 2013-14.The Department’s overall spend per capita in 2010-11 was £1,908 and £2,140 in 2015-16.Departmental overall spend per capita has grown by 12.2% between 2010-11 and 2015-16.

Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Mental Health Champions his Department has established since the publication of the Five Year Forward View in Mental Health in February 2016.

Nicola Blackwood: Since February 2016, Time to Change has registered 1,871 champions. These champions are adults with lived experience of mental health, who lead the Time to Change anti-stigma movement and provide peer support. In order to contribute to the relevant recommendation in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health to establish mental health champions in each community, since April 2016 they have also had 84 young champions in place as part of their children and young people’s programme. In total, Time to Change now have 8,411 champions to date.

Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) hospital beds and (b) physicians per 1,000 people there (i) are at present and (ii) were in 2010; and what the UK's global ranking for those measures (A) is at present and (B) was in 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is in the table below. Number of beds1 and physicians2 per 1,000 people in England in 2010 and present3 and the global ranking of the United Kingdom4 for those measures5 Q2 2010/11Q2 2016/17September 2010September 2015UK global ranking (OECD countries) 2010UK global ranking (OECD countries) 2014Beds2.742.34  29/3527/35Physicians  2.702.73N/A6N/ASource: Beds availability and occupancy, NHS England. Office for National Statistics population mid-year estimates and projections and 2011 census. Workforce statistics, NHS Digital. OECD global ranking data. Notes:Number of available consultant-led beds open overnight.All doctors in General Practice and Hospital and Community Health ServicesThe most current available data has been used.Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data for hospital beds in 2010 and 2014 as the latest complete dataset.OECD data on number of beds per capita should only be used to make international comparisons with caution, because of inconsistencies in the basis and coverage of the data. The OECD report may not be comparing like with like. For example, some European countries may have included nursing home beds or private sector beds in their figures, which would not be included in the UK figures. In addition, differences between European health systems make comparisons very difficult. Some countries still have large long-stay hospitals for people with mental health problems and older people, whilst England has very few such facilities. The National Health Service also has a strong tradition of primary care and is committed to providing proactive support particularly to frail older people and those with long term conditions in the community.UK global ranking data is not held centrally for physicians.

NHS Protect

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the (a) change in the level of funding to NHS Protect and (b) removal of its legal protection unit on the performance of NHS Protect.

Mr Philip Dunne: Decisions on NHS Protect funding and development or continuation of NHS Protect sections are made on an annual basis. No specific assessment of these has been carried out. Annual NHS Protect plans and reports are available at:www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/3647.aspx

Accident and Emergency Departments

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS hospital trusts met the four-hour accident and emergency target in December 2016.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS England publish the monthly performance of all National Health Service trusts against the accident and emergency target. The latest data is for November 2016 and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/Data for December 2016 will be available on 9 February 2017.

Hospital Beds

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospital beds in each hospital in England were being occupied by patients who were ready to be discharged but could not be released because a care package or support had not been put in place within the community on the most recent date for which figures are available.

David Mowat: In November 2016 there were 39,457 hospital bed days where discharge was delayed whilst patients were awaiting a care package in their own home, and 4,352 whilst patients were awaiting community equipment and adaptations. These delays are estimated nationally to have affected 1.2% and 0.1% of hospital beds respectively.

Women and Equalities

Castes: Discrimination

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when the consultation on caste discrimination announced on 2 September 2016 will commence.

Caroline Dinenage: We intend to issue the consultation shortly at which point it will run for 12 weeks. [Caste is an extremely sensitive and emotive subject. This is the first ever public consultation on the matter and it is vital that we get the details and content of the consultation right].